"Discover Fantasy", Experience Reality

Buffalo Games "Discover Fantasy" 500 pc. 

 "Who is she that walks down a guided path to what may seem like an out of reach castle.  Separating her from her destination is a river.  Will she find a way to  cross the river  or will she let it take her along with its flow to a place she couldn't dream of when she was still walking on that guided path."  

November 11 was my sister's birthday, and the first birthday without her.  She died in July.  My Mom still wanted to gather family together.  As I was packing to leave, Mom gave me a gift bag with four puzzles.  She found them at a closing out sale.  This puzzle was one of the ones in the bag.  I felt touched that Mom did this.  I am the only daughter she has left, and it was like she still needed to give her daughter something on the day that marked her as a mother.  I was honoured to receive a gift of puzzles, something both my sister and I like to do.  

This puzzle was the first one out of the four that I wanted to do.  The image drew me to a memory of my sister that I have yet to find corroboration from someone else who knew her during her single years.  

I vaguely remember my sister talking about going to Europe... maybe even to be a bank manager.  I am not sure when she told me that... I haven't yet found anyone that remembers her sharing those details with them, but her best friend for many years confirmed that they had talked about going to Europe.  

This picture reminded me of a journey, a dreamed destination and a change of course.  The lady walking down the walkway in the yellow coloured coat, is heading on a path designed for her to walk. In the distance she sees what looks to be a European Castle, but a river lies between her path and the castle.  I envision that being my sister before she was married.  She had a dream and then the river came and instead of crossing it, she let it carry her in a different direction.  It usually happens when one invites another human being on their journey of life.  

Jennifer never made it to Europe, but she made it to the Caribbean, Central America and across Canada and the US.   I might wonder what might have been had she crossed that river... but I will never know... and that's okay.  

One more thought:  The colour of the woman's jacket is the same colour as the November birthstone, Citrine, but in researching the details of the stone, I discovered something interesting.  Topaz (blue) is also a birthstone for November.  The year Dad died, Jennifer had a necklace made for Mom (at Dad's request) with birthstones from the whole family.  The birthstone she chose for November was the yellow one.  I figure it may have been a logical choice as it offered a different colour.  Dad's birthstone is a Sapphire and blue.  The Citrine is a slightly less expensive jewel, maybe more practical and less dreamy.  It's interesting how that is the one she chose.  I guess I will never know.  

STARTED IT ON A DAY OF DEATH, FINISHED IT ON A DAY OF BIRTH

Sure-Lox "Double Rainbow" 1000 pcs

Today is my Dad's birthday.  He would have been ninety-one.  I have been cleaning up unfinished puzzles this week and wondered if finishing this one today might be a healing project.  I shared the story of this puzzle on my post THE PUZZLE OLYMPICS: GOLD ROUND post back in August.  I shelved it because it was the last thing I did before that knock on the door from my Mom.  

I have been binge watching the live stream of the World Puzzle Championships 2023 in Spain.  The commentators have been fun to listen to as I puzzle along side all the ambitious competitors.  They have gathered from around the world into Spain for the annual gathering of puzzlers to compete in single, pairs and team events of speed puzzling.  Somehow watching them gave me inspiration and energy to finish this puzzle.  

I got to the end and like my sister's puzzle "EAGLE OF PROMISE", it was missing one piece.  Yet another reminder that the picture of my life isn't complete.  

I have found puzzles a strange grief partner on this journey.  I just wish I had memories to go with them.  I can't remember my sister and I puzzling together.  I wanted to, and maybe I did when we were younger.. I just don't remember those moments.  Watching the pairs competition at the World's adds a little envy for me.  I don't want to puzzle fast, but puzzling with someone else looks fun.  I just wish I could do more of it.  

 

THE AEROPLANE: A PUZZLE AND A SONG

"BEECHCRAFT STAGGER WING"

September 21 marks the day I plan to release my fourth puzzle portfolio video.  In preparing for it, I wanted Tim Minchin's music to back it up with a couple of amazing songs.  This puzzle video is being dedicated to my sister, and the songs seem to fit.  But I faced a little issue.  The second song I chose was "The Aeroplane", and I had no puzzles in my portfolio video with an airplane.  The timing of the end of the song"Carry you" and the beginning of the song "The Aeroplane" had me looking for a 500 pc puzzle with a plane in it.  What I found exceeded my hopes for a great picture.  

Cobble Hill is my favourite puzzle manufacturer and to find this puzzle in their collection was amazing.  What I love about the picture is that it is a biplane cruising over bush country in the mountains.  I can imagine it as the place where my sister wanted her final resting place to be.  She asked that her ashes be spread in the Rocky Mountains.  What a suitable puzzle to finish off my collection #4.  

But I have a few days before I am scheduled to post my video and I still didn't have the puzzle.  I phoned Hobby Wholesale in Edmonton and found out that they had one left in stock.  I asked them to put it on hold for me and drove into the city to get it.  It was definitely worth it. It was the last picture I needed. 

The song "The Aeroplane" was composed by Tim Minchin, but my favourite version is when he invites a young girl by the name of Asmara Feik to sing it with him.  That is the version I chose to add to my portfolio video.  Her voice is melodic and such a compliment to Tim's vocals.  

Tim Minchin and Asmara Feik perform live "The Aeroplane"

Ruby's Puzzle Portfolio Video #4 

MY SISTER'S PUZZLE

 

"Eagle of Promise" by James A. Meger (SunsOut Inc) 

It was the Saturday after the Tuesday that my sister died.  My husband and I made our first trek out to the farm to connect with the family.  I found myself venturing into my sister's prayer room.  It was originally my older nephew's bedroom.  My sister converted it to her sanctuary a few years after his death.  

There is a desk by a window that overlooks her back yard.  There was a serenity found just to sit and look out the window.  I wondered how many times my sister stared out that window.  I wondered if she found the peace I was finding in that moment.  

I looked around her prayer room and saw a small library that she had built.  Those must have been her special books.  I saw one book that I had given to my brother-in-law a few years back and wondered if she had read it.  I had never heard back from anyone if that book was read or if it meant anything.  I just saw it in her prayer room and had to rest with the mystery.  

Something else grabbed my eye as I perused her library.  There was one lone puzzle sitting on the top of her books.  It looked strange to be there, as the puzzle collection was downstairs in the living room.  Something seemed special about that puzzle, but I couldn't ask her why.  All that was present with me in that room was my memory of her, and maybe some residual energy and breath from her times up here.  She came to this room to find her peace.  Maybe this puzzle was a picture of that search.  

There was no sun to be seen in the picture.  Just a possibility of sun to come.  A beautiful rainbow arched across the picture against a mountain back drop.  She loved the mountains.  It was still dark, so the storm may have passed, but left behind a dreariness only broken into by a lone rainbow.  And there was the eagle.  It wasn't stationed on the dead tree in the foreground, like a depressed soul not able to leave the darkness.  No, that eagle had lifted off.  With its wings spread, it wasn't waiting for the sun to appear, it needed to fly, it wanted to fly.  Maybe the beauty and colours of the rainbow invited it to soar, even in the darkness.  

I took the puzzle home with the intent to finish it and have it displayed at the funeral.  But that didn't happen.  That puzzle took me a month to finish.  I think there is poetry in that.  Grief takes time.  Now I have finished the puzzle and am wondering what to do with it.  I wonder if bringing it back to my sister in her prayer room will be the most fitting place for it.  

I wish I had memories of us puzzling together.  I don't.  I only have a future that won't include those times together that I longed for.  Now I will keep puzzling and find my own peace among the pieces that I assemble.  

October 2, 2023

I remembered there was a picture of my sister puzzling with her son and her mother-in-law, but I didn't know what puzzle they were working on.  A closer look made me aware that it was indeed "The Eagle of Promise" puzzle.  I was overwhelmed with emotion at the idea that these three would be in the picture with that puzzle.  These three all died within six and a half years of each other.  This is the picture of the darkness of our family.  But somehow, someone caught them all on camera working on this puzzle.  How precious is that.  I miss them all so much.  

THE PUZZLE OLYMPICS: GOLD ROUND... CUT SHORT BY TRAGEDY

July was Gold Month for the Puzzle Olympics.  That meant 1000 pc puzzles for a whole month.  I like the 1000 pc puzzles.  For the most part they are my favourite.  I was able to finish two Cobble Hill, one Eeboo, a Ceaco Thomas Kinkade (that I might have started in June) and a Jack Pine Hot Air Balloon puzzle.  In these five puzzles I have a display of five of my favourites in puzzling.  

1. My favourite brand:  Cobble Hill

2. My favourite artist: Thomas Kinkade

3. My favourite puzzle theme: Hot Air Balloons

4. My favourite Dollar store puzzle brand: Eeboo

5: My favourite Cobble Hill theme:  Golden Retrievers

I was in the middle of my sixth puzzle when tragedy struck.  My last process picture for the 2023 Puzzle Olympics was from a Sure-Lox puzzle I picked up at Giant Tiger.  I started  this puzzle on July 18, 2023.  

The First process picture was taken at 4:06 pm 

I took my second process picture at 7:18 pm. 

I went to bed around 9:00 pm and before I was unconscious,  I heard a knock at the door.  It was my mother.  She came to tell me that my sister was dead.  

As I look back at the photos and the puzzle, I see the same response that I had over six years ago when my mother came to tell me that my nephew was dead.  I had been sewing at that moment when the knock on the door came.  My sewing machine got packed up for almost two years before I wanted to take it out again.  I did the same thing with this puzzle.  I packed it up.  I didn't disassemble the progress on it, I just sandwiched it between two pieces of foam board and put it into storage. 

I then removed myself from the Puzzle Olympics Facebook competition and stopped puzzling for a few days.  I had other things more pressing to do, like funeral preparations, but eventually I got back to puzzling.  But the Sure-lox puzzle remains in storage.  Maybe like the sewing machine, that one might take time before I pull it out again.  

I wasn't too upset about ending my participation in the Puzzle Olympics.  I think I made myself quite clear that the rules focus of the games was not at all in the spirit of puzzling for me.  But I am glad I stuck it out as long as I did and didn't quit because of my frustration with the "Puzzle Police".  

(There will be more about my sister's death and our puzzle stories in the next blog post. Stay tuned! ) 

THE PUZZLE OLYMPICS: SILVER ROUND

Hello:  Back for another update on the Jigsaw Puzzle Olympics.  This time:  the Silver Round.  

The Silver Round (500-999pc) lasted for three weeks from June 9 to June 30.  I managed to get twelve puzzles finished for this round.  That would average four puzzles a week which isn't too bad considering that some of these puzzles took three days to finish.  Having done 1000 and 2000 pc puzzles, one might think that 500 pc puzzles might be a breeze, but that isn't always the case.  I've admitted before that I'm not a speedy puzzler, but I don't think it's a requirement to enjoy the craft.  

This round had me stretching myself into unchartered territory.  My puzzle themes usually involve nature, farm scenes, animals, and distinct architecture or a mix of the them.  But this time I went beyond my comfortable puzzle choice and took on the Ravensburger Krypt Gradient.  

Gradient puzzles are a common option in the puzzling communities, but I haven't been attracted to them as much because I like my puzzles to tell stories.  What story comes from this?  I had to ponder that for a while.  

What gives this puzzle a story is the gradient.  The colours are not distinct from each other, they blend together and one colour merges into another one gradually.  Maybe there is a life picture in this.  Maybe if we give ourselves a hard look we might find ourselves less contrasting to other people, and more blending.  We have our own colours, but if we look deeper into ourselves, we just might find a path that blends our differing colours together.  This puzzle reminds me of that.  

The other puzzles for the most part are Puzzle Bugs from the Dollar Tree.  I like the 500 pc puzzles they have.  There is lots of colour and vibrancy.  I am less concerned with piece quality  and more inspired by colour and beauty.  

Not all were Dollar Tree puzzles.  I found a few on my journey that I especially liked.  

This puzzle I picked up at one of our local grocery stores.  The artist is Laivi Pōder.  I am not a big fan of art puzzles, but I like this artist.  The colours are dynamic and the image takes me away into it's story.  This puzzle, manufactured by Spin Master Puzzles, is called "Tucked Away".  It was one of the more challenging puzzles, but I really enjoyed the journey and stuck with it.  I even bought a companion puzzle from the same store and same artist.  I look forward to taking that on when this whole Olympics journey is over.  

I was able to submit one 750 pc puzzle for this round.  The puzzle is part of an eight pack Ceaco Thomas Kinkade Collection called "Amsterdam Cafe".  I like Thomas Kinkade.  The other puzzles I had done long before the games began, so only this one and the last 1000 pc puzzle (in the Gold Round) are part of the games entries.  

I am still frustrated at the whole strict adherence to the rules orientation of the Games.  Puzzles are about enjoyment, community and beauty.  The nitpicking of the rules really puts a damper on the whole event.  I won't be back next year, but I'm not quitting this year.  If they ask us to give them a review at the end, I will be upfront about the nitpicking.  It really takes the joy of out of the whole adventure and I don't think I'm the only one has noticed that.  

I think I will end this post with the cutest puzzle of this round.  I ended up giving it to a friend in Saskatchewan.  She really enjoyed it.  It's one of the Dollar Tree purchases... Puzzle Bug.  "American Staffordshire Terrier Puppies"  (I think they stuck a Rottweiler in there... The black and brown puppy looks like a Rotty) 

THE PUZZLE OLYMPICS: BRONZE ROUND

 

The Bronze Round features puzzles from 201 - 499 pieces and  one week to build.  When the round started a week ago, I had three puzzles in stock to build.  The first was this Stocking Stuffer.  According to the box, it is "The World's Smallest Puzzle.  At 234 pieces, it is four inches by six inches.  I got this puzzle at Calmar Pharmacy after Christmas sometime. They had these little micro puzzles on the shelf.  I got two... one with cats and one with dogs.  If I knew how much fun they would be, I would have cleared out their stock.  They were having a post season sale.  These puzzles come with their own set of tweezers.  Sometimes they are handy to have. The pieces are tiny.  

This "Happy Pawlidays" puzzle and the next one "Call of the Wild"  are both Cobble Hill 350 pc puzzles from their "Family Pieces" collection.  These collections come with three different pieces sizes.  I think the idea is that a whole family can enjoy them regardless of size.  I already posted the story about these puzzles in a previous post...  "Family Pieces: Puzzles for a Party".  

This puzzle is the harder of the two.  There is so much activity, but it seems to take a little more effort.  Still I like the picture.  It is unique in my collection as it has quite more of a human element that I am usually comfortable in my puzzles.  But because it is meant to be a human activity, I can let that slide.  I just hope I can share it with others.  I already did it once with my Mom.  

The next four puzzles are 350 pieces from my recent Dollar Tree visit in Camrose this past week.  I know I am on a puzzle buying freeze, and maybe I can still restrict myself for a while, but at a dollar fifty, it didn't seem like a bank breaker to add a few more to my Olympic Bronze Collection.  

The Zodiac was fun.  I like round puzzles and this one was educational.  I didn't realize that I couldn't match up the signs with their images.  I knew the ram was Aries and the bull was Taurus.  But beyond that, it was a learning experience.  

The Fruits and Vegetables puzzle is a micro puzzle along with the Windmill puzzle.  These are challenging, but because they are multi shape puzzles, they aren't impossible.  I got a micro puzzle that I quickly tanked because it has all the same piece shapes.  Those are the ones I give up on.  

This puzzle I already did once.  I gave it away to as a get well gift to a fellow puzzler.  So when I saw it in the store I decided it was too pretty to pass up.  

The last puzzle wasn't all that easy, even through it had large pieces and multi shapes. I am not a big tropical puzzle fanatic.  But this one seemed colourful and fun and a good way to end off the Bronze Round.  

Hi Ho... On to Silver!