Tag Archives: jigsaw puzzles

Jigsaw Puzzles

13 Jul

The Squire and I both enjoy puzzles – both jigsaw and crossword puzzles. Every morning, we print off the daily crossword puzzles and the Word Search from the Baltimore Sun (which has been made infinitely more difficult by their improved site) and work them together.

Several times a week we open a new jigsaw puzzle, sort out the pieces, and put it together. The problem is that we have different approaches to the sorting process. I sort the pieces by shape – all of what I call standard pieces – together, all of the “little men “, and so forth and then arrange them by color. The Squire pulls out everything of a certain color and then arranges them in some order known only to himself. The pieces that are the same shape are not together, some are upside down, others are sideways. It drives me NUTS!

Today we are working a Star Wars puzzle. He has three bowls on various colors and mixed shapes. I can’t even begin to help him because all of those bowls are still unsorted – even by his standards. I did sort out what he had left behind, but I have no idea where to start to put them into the frame.

I finally came into the den to write this because we are about to come to words.

Yes, folks, it is that bad.

Stoned to Death With Popcorn

25 Feb

Other people are dealing with real problems, and I am just getting bogged down with goofy stuff.

Our thermostat has decided to become a free agent. We normally keep the house at 70 during the day and 62 at night. For the last week, it has bopped back and forth on its own. We’ll be eating dinner and realize it’s a bit chilly in here, and discover the temp is in the 60s. I’ll think I’m having a hot flash (Yes, Virginia, they can hang on until you’re pushing 80. Isn’t that exciting?) and go downstairs at 2 AM to discover the house has suddenly shot up to 70. The kitchen timer has joined this party and goes off at odd times. There are two different beeps on this contraption; a “time’s up” beep which only runs for a minute and then stops, and another very fast beep-beep-beep that tells you the food is done. That one doesn’t stop. Ever. I’ll come down in the morning and it is hanging on the side of the fridge, beeping its little heart out, with the probe tucked away in the drawer. We’ve tried placating these beasts with fresh batteries, but that hasn’t helped.

I keep telling myself that I have a roof over my head, and it is warm – or cold – and I have food to be cooked, so stop complaining; we’ve better off than half the world.

It doesn’t help.

I’ve been working on a jigsaw puzzle for the last couple of days. It is a 1,000 piece puzzle, which normally is no  problem, but this puzzle is not large enough to have that many pieces, so each one is about the size of a postage stamp, and they are all the same shape. Last night the cat jumped on the card table, and sent the entire thing onto the floor.

I think the mess upstairs is beginning to get to me.