[dcompton]

Me! Me! I used to be a huge puzzle fan, and then stopped for several years. But late fall, I picked up a cheap one at Walmart, and was instantly hooked again. I absolutely, totally, blew any semblance of a budget buying puzzles. (Hangs head.) But I have great new puzzles, and a few from ebay. I'll have fun for a year! I not doing one right now, but soon, soon. Ah, which one next..... They are so addictive. I can work on them from the time I get up until I go to bed, just stopping, grudgingly, to eat. This is very, very bad for the housework scene, but who cares? Life is short; have fun! I prefer about 1000 pieces, but do some larger, some smaller.

You are right -- the cost of puzzles is preposterous. The one I may do next is a Bits and Pieces puzzle of a tiger in a lotus pond, called "The Lotus Position." Neat picture.

 

[dcompton]

Hey, thanks for reviving this old thread. I work jigsaws in spurts, but maybe this will inspire me to do it more consistently. I have a table now I could leave on out on - if I can find a permanent place for the table, that is!

I worked two over the holidays:
A Secret Garden :: 1000 Piece Puzzles :: F.X. Schmid :: Adult Puzzles :: Puzzles :: BestQualityToys.com
Dinoscape - 1000pc Jigsaw Puzzle by Educa

Both were 1000 pieces. The dinosaurs were fun. The garden puzzle was a surprise. I thought it looked really easy, and it turned out to be harder than I expected. I'm still not sure why.

I have a BIG backlog of puzzles I've collected over the last few years. I really should dig in and work them. I love doing them.

 

[dcompton]

I looked back and saw I posted in Jan 2008 that the next puzzle on my list was the tiger in the lotus pond. That's embarrassing. It's still on my list - LOL. It just look really intimidating and I always bypass it. Someday.

 

[dcompton]

Yeah, a backlog, but it's cost me more than I would probably ever confess on a frugal forum. But I work them over and over, and I don't need to buy any more for a very long time. So I'll think of them as an "investment."

I bought one in the fall that I want to work, but it's another intimidating one. It's a celestial map, and those are always hard. I had one many years ago that was, no contest, the hardest thing I have ever done. It came with a book of information about the stars, and I had to use it to research the stars to get it done at all. Many were identified by their scientific names (numbers) on the puzzle and with the booklet I could eventually find them at at least figure out approximately where they might go. This one doesn't look nearly as hard as that one though.

 

[dcompton]

Oh, I do that too! Even when I know I'm not going to work it for a long time, I have to open it. Just to see. And touch.

Now though, I have an excuse. I have no room to store them in boxes, so I put them in labeled zipper plastic bags and cut the pictures off the boxes. It all stores much more compactly. If I didn't, between puzzles and my yarn stash, I would have to move the bed out onto the patio.

 

[dcompton]

I'm probably get my puzzle table situated better tomorrow. Then I think I'll do a couple of smaller 500 piece puzzles I have:

Vintage Flora - 500pc Jigsaw Puzzle by Ravensburger

Lighthouse Diagram - 500pc Jigsaw Puzzle by Sunsout

 

[dcompton]

The Vintage Flora is one of my new ones from the fall. It sparked the whole order - I saw, I had to have.

I love puzzles with lots of little interior pictures. I have a lot of the big White Mountain puzzles that are bordered with boxes. One of my favorite of those their Trees of North America puzzle - all over boxes! It was a lot of fun to work. (That's a weird looking link, but I clicked on it and it went to the right place.)

Trees of North America Puzzle-Jigsaw puzzles for sale, 1000 and 500 piece educational jigsaw puzzles Civil War Puzzle(s) Hollywood legends jigsaw puzzle Boston Globe series and more White Mountain Puzzles

 

[dcompton]

I have a zero puzzle budget for this year. I got a Bits and Pieces catalogue yesterday. It's going in the trash. It used to be a favorite company, but not any more.

Several years ago - I think it was - the company changed hands. I had just done a big puzzle order, around $79 if I recall. The puzzles came, nothing appeared on the CC. I tried to call, many times, but the phone was not working. I e-mailed repeatedly, and got no response. I did my conscientious best to pay for those puzzles, but there was no one to give any money too. So I got a bunch of free puzzles. Thanks, guys.

What they are making now doesn't appeal to me as much and they seem very expensive. I did get one from them in the fall though, at least I'm pretty sure it was from them - tiny Japanese ladies on a boat on a lotus pond. Or perhaps it's Japanese ladies on a boat amid gigantic mutant lotus blossoms. I think of them as "Japanese fairies." I have no idea what it's all about, but I really liked it anyway it was so different. At the same time I picked up a couple of really cheap close out puzzles, to make the shipping worthwhile. Ok, but nothing to be terribly excited about.

 

[dcompton]

I worked the Vintage Flora one last night - very easy, very quick. I like a challenge, but I like to keep some easy ones on hand too for times when I just don't want to work very hard!

I planned to do the lighthouse diagram next, but may save it and start one of the larger ones. Today - housework and crocheting.

 

[dcompton]

Kara, nothing beats free puzzles!

Cat, do you keep them to work again? Of, course you wouldn't want to do again right away. Maybe you can find some more.

I just finished a big one a couple of days of ago, Historical Map in the top left corner of the page this links to:

1500 Pieces - Ravensburger Global

I also have the Celestial Map right next to it on the page, but I don't have the courage to start it right now. I want to something a little bit easier next!

 

[dcompton]

No new puzzle toys here. I started a great crochet-along challenge on a crochet forum - to find a doily pattern and make it into a baby blanket. It's fun and there are going to be some stunning blankets coming out of it.

On another forum on the same board, we are just starting a group read of Les Miserables. Fortunately, I have it in audio, so I can play while I listen. It's 57 hours, 46 minutes -- that sounds like puzzle time to me! So before long I may start another one. I do them in spurts.

But the nifty baby blanket first.

 

[dcompton]

Wow! What a haul!

Just a couple of days ago I decided it was puzzle time again. I've moved the bed into the dining room (very bohemian and a long story) so I have a big open space in the bedroom that is just crying out to have my puzzle table set up. It's been a few months since I did one, and I'm in the mood for it. Tonight I will set it up and pick the next puzzle. I have a lot of new ones from past binges I haven't worked yet.

 

[dcompton]

Welcome to the kith, Everytim. It's not a very active thread, but once in a while someone digs it out and tells us what they are doing.

I never got around to that puzzle time - I have been so unacceptably busy. But I'll have a few days off after Memorial Day, so maybe then. I spotted a few on Amazon that I covet - why do I even look? - but it's been an expensive month, so new toys are on hold for quite a while. Of course, the one I want most is a very expensive one:

Dream on. But doesn't that look like fun?

 

[dcompton]

I envy those of you who can get them at garage sales. With my work schedule, there's no way I do garage sales at all, and I don't know anyone who does, so I can't even commission someone to look for them. C'est la vie.