Standing Into Danger: Puzzles and More

Friday, October 1, 2021

Puzzles and More

Do you have a favorite way to relax, an activity that you can lose yourself in for hours?

For me that relaxing activity is putting together jigsaw puzzles.

The Springbok Cats ~ 1000 pieces

(And when I was finished, 2 of the 1,000 pieces were missing! ~ Argh!)

I've been assembling jigsaw puzzles since I was a small child.

My mother Sara MacBeath, her mother Ella MacDonald,

and her grandmother Sara Cossaboom all did jigsaw puzzles.

That love for puzzles was passed on to my brother, three sisters, and me.

Jigsaw puzzles made countless rainy summer days or snowy winter nights

fly by when we were growing up.

To this day, we all love to tackle jigsaw puzzles,

although the pastime is easier for those of us who don't have cats.

We, in turn, have passed the love of jigsaw puzzles on to the next generation,

and my four-year-old-great-niece Ella is now putting puzzles together.

Ella with Homegrown Strawberries

Photo by Her Mother Jeannie

My brother Roy and I are probably the most addicted to the jigsaw habit.

We send each other pictures of our current puzzles and our progress.

We exchange used puzzles, the harder, the better.

And we love sitting down with a puzzle and working it together.

The Ravensburger Krypt Silver 654 ~ 500 pieces

It's considered one of the most difficult of jigsaw puzzles,

and is a puzzle Roy did during the pandemic.

I sure hope he doesn't pass this on to me!

Photo by Roy MacBeath

Roy and I have similar tastes in puzzles: nature scenes and animals.

Roy especially likes cats, and I especially like rocks.

Give me horses and rocks, and I am thrilled!

The Master Pieces Running the Sacred Cliffs ~ 1000 pieces

(I'm not going to be missing a piece again!)

We both have permanent puzzle tables, mimicking our Great Grandmother Sara.

She had a custom puzzle board that she could lay across the arms of her favorite chair

when she settled in to work on a jigsaw puzzle in front of her wood stove.

Our Great Grandmother Sara Cossaboom

From the beginning of my teaching career, I had jigsaw puzzles in my classroom.

I thought assembling jigsaw puzzles was a valuable activity as students worked

on pattern recognition, sorting and categorizing, spatial thinking, and fine motor control,

and they learned a whole lot about cooperation and sharing.

I was always hunting for great jigsaw puzzles

that connected to different areas of our curriculum.

Because puzzles are engrossing, they increased my students' focus and concentration,

and because they were relaxing, they calmed my students down.

Best of all they were fun!

Perfect for a Lesson Plan!

Roy recently completed his first 3,000-piece puzzle.

He's an engineer, so he approaches the process methodically,

completing the border first and laying out his puzzle pieces precisely.

The Engineer's Puzzle Table and Puzzle

The Ravensburger Flowery Mountains ~ 3,000 pieces

Photo by Roy MacBeath

Not to be outdone, I began my first 3,000-piece puzzle.

I didn't have much choice.

It was the only undone puzzle in my collection,

a doozie that my nephew Kevin gave me some Christmases ago.

Unlike Roy, I jump in wherever I can, sorting pieces into mugs and tubs.

I had to add another leaf to my puzzle table and pile my mugs and tubs on a nearby counter.

But I'm off and running!

The Ravensburger World Map 1665 ~ 3,000 pieces

Small Beginnings

A Little Progress

If I'm lucky, I can work on my jigsaw puzzle twenty minutes or so late in the evening.

Some nights, I'm not lucky. I get sucked into puzzle quicksand.

Just one more piece. Just one more piece.

Still Friends and Competitors

Roy and Me, Circa 1954

Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada

I missed posting last Friday.

I was painting and juggling appointments last week.

I've been dealing with worsening double vision,

and I really don't like seeing four-eyed people ~ LOL!

So more appointments and tests next week. Oh joy!

I'm not worried ~ I likely have eye muscles that are not working together.

My friend Rain's Thursday Art Date theme last week was sculpture,

the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Google

Well, I was definitely working in three dimensions last week!

I scoured, primed, and painted our seventeen-year-old cement porch floor and steps.

I've never done anything like this,

and to me the final results were a 3-D work of art!

Scoured

Partially Primed

Painted

September 22, 2021

Aurora, Colorado, USA

I had selected a lot of sculptures for last week,

but I couldn't put the post together,

so I'll share my favorite, Makua and Kila.

Makua and Kila

March 4, 2016

Waikiki Boardwalk by Kuhio Beach, Honolulu, USA

This life-sized bronze statue of a boy and a seal surfing on the North Shore

was sculpted by Kauai artist Holly Young.

Fred Van Dyke's book Two Surf Stories for Children inspired Young.

His story about the young surfer Makua who befriends the Hawaiian monk seal Kila

captures the Hawaiian value of ohana, love and respect for family.

I never fail to visit Makua and Kila whenever I'm on the boardwalk.

Makua and Kila

March 4, 2016

Waikiki Boardwalk by Kuhio Beach, Honolulu, USA

I love placing a lei around Kila's neck.

March 19, 2016

Waikiki Boardwalk by Kuhio Beach, Honolulu, USA

Looks Perfect!

March 19, 2016

Waikiki Boardwalk by Kuhio Beach, Honolulu, USA

Rain's Thursday Art Date theme this week is surrealism,

"a 20th-century avant-garde movement in art and literature which sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, for example by the irrational juxtaposition of images." Google

Wednesday I was experiencing the surreal.

I'm not going to divulge how we did it,

but Terry, our friends Julie and Dave, and I

crashed the final Rockies home game in Coors Field.

We couldn't believe it!

We watched over an inning before we caught the train for the airport.

Our friends were here on a nine-hour layover between Fargo and San Diego.

Heading to Denver International Airport

September 29, 2021

Gateway Station, Aurora, Colorado, USA

After the Rain Delay at Coors Field #1

September 29, 2021

Denver, Colorado, USA

After the Rain Delay at Coors Field #2

September 29, 2021

Denver, Colorado, USA

Charlie Blackmon at Bat

September 29, 2021

Coors Field, Denver, Colorado, USA

Out of the Downpour and into Coors Field

Terry, Dave, and Julie

September 29, 2021

Coors Field, Denver, Colorado, USA

Charlie Blackmon at Third

September 29, 2021

Coors Field, Denver, Colorado, USA

The Crashers!

September 29, 2021

Denver, Colorado, USA

Riley Adams at Bat

September 29, 2021

Coors Field, Denver, Colorado, USA

Why am I the only one who looks like a drowned rat?

Terry, Me, Dave, and Julie

September 29, 2021

Coors Field, Denver, Colorado, USA

The Rockies can thank us for their win! We brought them luck!

I didn't have time to play with surrealism.

But I chose this example, for obvious reasons ~ LOL!

DRAWING SURREALISM exhibition 2012

at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), U.S.A

Wikimedia

Stay happy and safe!

36 comments:

Elephant's ChildOctober 1, 2021 at 3:29 AM
You have been busy. And productive.
I hope your eyes can be sorted.
Loved that statue.
The youngest of my brothers gave me a jigsaw that I failed to complete. It had the same picture on the front and the back (but the one on the back had been rotated ninety degrees...
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Pat HattOctober 1, 2021 at 3:46 AM
Wow. He is meticulous with the puzzles haha I've never done a 3000 one, and yeah, they are much harder to do with cats lol and dogs who will eat the pieces that the cats knock off the table. Being a rebel and crashing a baseball game too. Oh the shame lol
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Valerie-JaelOctober 1, 2021 at 5:30 AM
Hi Louise, my hair is standing on end just thinking about those jigsaw puzzles, not something I like doing, I am not patient enough. The puzzles you and your brother have done are fantastic. That silver one is incredible, how could anyone put it together? My mind boggles! Glad you were able to meet up with friends and crash a game - daring! The sculpture of the man with the seal is totally beautiful, and I like your surreal pieces, too. I'm heading to my kitchen now to rustle up some food for lunch! Have a great weekend, hugs, Valerie
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Debra She Who SeeksOctober 1, 2021 at 10:15 AM
You and your brother are clearly the Queen and King of Jigsaw Puzzles! I don't have the patience to sit and do them, but My Rare One likes to do a couple per year (usually around Christmas -- it's one of her traditions).
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Nancy JOctober 1, 2021 at 12:07 PM
My favourite is cryptic crossword puzzles, and like you, my Mum did them, she was so brave and allowed me to fill in, with pencil, the clues I could solve, when The Listener came each week to our farm letterbox. Then, I am guessing, she erased my answers and did hers. To this day, I so enjoy crosswords, and the other day when I was a day patient at Wellington Hospital Cardiac ward, took, YES, you guessed it, a small puzzle book to while the time away as I waited to go to the PCI theatre.I also like jigsaws, and do them methodically like Roy, borders first, then colour co-ordinate the rest.A good book, a cryptic puzzle, for you a jigsaw, perfect home entertainment for those darker winter days. My Roget's Thesaurus has been a trusty helper, the 2 paperback versions soon fell to pieces, and I managed to find a hard cover one, on Amazon I think.Stay safe, and keep warm as you are well into Autumn days now.
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ChristineOctober 1, 2021 at 3:20 PM
Nice contributions to Rain's themes. I enjoyed the puzzle memes, I tend to avoid puzzles myself, good for you!
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DVArtistOctober 1, 2021 at 4:08 PM
Nice post. We have a puzzle going all the time too. Ella is a little cutie. Have a nice day today.
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TomOctober 1, 2021 at 5:10 PM
...regardless of what Noam Chomsky say I find puzzles too puzzling!
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Janie JunebugOctober 1, 2021 at 7:29 PM
Arrrrrrrgh to missing puzzles pieces.

Love,
Janie
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Rajani RehanaOctober 3, 2021 at 2:51 AM
Beautiful blog
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Rain October 3, 2021 at 9:35 AM
Louise this was so fun. I loved all the puzzle funnies! I am like the guy with the moon puzzle lol..."almost done" is what goes through my head lol...I can't do puzzles here too many critters. I love that sculpture you showed, isn't it wonderful!!! And you CRASHED the game ha ha ha ha ha....I did that once when I saw the Expos, we got lucky, never got caught! That's great! ☺☺
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Andrea @ From The SolOctober 3, 2021 at 10:48 AM
I love jigsaw puzzles as well, but I am not that good at them ... takes me forever, so I have recently joined forces with my Granddaughter (age 12) who is now better than I am at the 1000 piece puzzles. And, I know ... I hate it when I finish and have a missing piece. I always wonder if I lost it or if the puzzle came that way :( My husband, who is also and engineer, does his own puzzles (doesn't want me to help because he has a process and I am chaotic). I have to tell you that I recognized the engineers puzzle table before I read your comment ... it's a dead giveaway :)
I love your choice of the Makua and Kila statue. It is beautiful and I love the story (which could be a true story for all we know, right?) And Painting your sidewalk? That is not common around here. How do you keep it from chipping when people walk on it? I also love the pictures of you and your friends (you are quite a svelte prettly lady) and without the masks, I trust you are vaccinated and being safe, yes? It is always a pleasure to visit you. You have vast area's on interest and knowledge that I feed on ... trying to keep my old brain in tact :) And on top of that, you are funny and interesting. So enough said, Hope all is well with you ...

Andrea @ From the Sol
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Bleubeard and ElizabethOctober 3, 2021 at 12:14 PM
I am sorry I'm so late visiting. I should have checked back with Rain sooner. I used to love puzzles, but I got one of those 3-D ones. It was the Chrysler building. I couldn't seem to work in 3-D like that, so I gave it to a friend who LOVES puzzles. So glad you are passing on your love of puzzles to Ella. She's a real cutie.

I love the surreal pages you shared. They are perfect indeed.
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Bleubeard and ElizabethOctober 3, 2021 at 12:31 PM
i forgot to mention how much I enjoyed the two sculptures you shared, too. I can see why they were favorites.
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bailiOctober 4, 2021 at 3:53 AM
i am really impressed by puzzles solving hobby by you and Roy wow that seems quite something to me ,i hardly solved few in my entire life and merely of hundred or so pieces .

thank you for sharing this so beautifully and i am going to add this in my wish list in future if i have one :)

your ravens burger puzzle seems quite difficult one but you are doing great as i see your progress ,very impressive !

i liked "life puzzle " meme so correct indeed .
i loved most the photo of both of you from childhood soooooooo lovely !

your porch step renovation looks great too :) you are all rounder indeed ,reminded me when i insisted hubby to leave piece of wall for me and cemented it ,it was of ten square feet area but i realized that it was more harder than when i broke the brick wall around our stairs ,my arms ached for days lol

glad you enjoyed the game ,from move watch i can say it is baseball ,how nice your friends joined you to have fun from quite far .

i like surrealism and the way it presents realty or mixture of realities ,i go with probability and metaphysical expressions ,you put it beautifully !

i loved how you adore the statues of boy and seal ,this is an emotional and uplifting phenomena indeed and this deserve to be honored by those who value love and goodness in life :)

more peace ,health and joy to you both and all you love my friend!
hugs!
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Liz HindsOctober 4, 2021 at 5:22 AM
Oh, I've just done a blog post about jigsaws too! Perhaps you can answer my question.
Love the jigsaw cartoons too.
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NatureFootstepOctober 9, 2021 at 4:25 PM
I used to do puzzles but now I ahve no good table to sit at so I do them online. Not that fun really. Love yoru Honolulu shots. I have been at that beach. My granddaughter studied in Honolulu and I visited her. :)
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CAACOctober 11, 2021 at 9:41 AM
My great grandpa put puzzles together. He would glue them down and display them, too. That intrigued me as a child. My late FIL loved putting puzzles together. It kept his mind busy after his body couldn't do what he was used to doing for years and his mind stayed sharp right up to the end. I don't think I have the patience to work puzzles but would like to give it ago. It definitely works the brain and that's something I can benefit me. :) Loved the life-size sculptures. Have a doodletastic week, my dear!
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