Tag: puzzle haul

Posted on

Week in Review: January 11, 2026

Peanut Butter has been enjoying the winter sun when he can, and he seems to really like my soft winter blanket.

This has been an interesting week. Michael’s dad is retired now and is trying to figure out everything with insurance, which affects us because Michael will be on his insurance until he turns 26. He did get the health insurance squared away, but we are still waiting to hear on prescription, dental, and vision. Michael did see the dentist this week, but it was to get his permanent crown, so the cost was already covered under the initial crown appointment last month, thankfully!

I am on tray #3 of my Invisalign, and that seems to be going well. They said I could leave the trays on an extra day if they still seem tight, but I’m not very good with vague instructions like that. I have taken it to mean that if I can’t get the new trays on, I should hold off on them. So far I have been able to use the new trays on time.

Below is a picture of the puzzles I purchased over the last few weeks of 2025. I am currently on a puzzle buying moratorium because I started the year with 71 puzzles waiting to be done and they no longer fit comfortably on the shelf I have set aside for that purpose. My goal is to not buy any new puzzles until I have my to do list at 50 or below. It will be a challenge for sure!

Yesterday was a busy day for me. I get together with a friend every other Saturday for lunch and a movie, and this time it was my turn to host. We watched People We Meet on Vacation and both really enjoyed it.

In the evening, I went with a friend from church to see comedian Josh Johnson in York. We had a good time. It was a powerful show that touched on some timely issues.

This morning I went to church, which was lovely. I connected with several friends and was very moved by the service. And now I am enjoying a relaxing Sunday afternoon!

Posted on

Christmas/Birthday Puzzle Haul

I was so blessed this year for Christmas and my birthday to receive puzzles from my son as well as two of my friends. Some were from my wish list and some were picked out for me, and I am looking forward to doing all of them!

Here is a list of the puzzles I got as they are pictured:

  • Venice Open Market from eeBoo, artist Uta Krogmann
  • European Winter Market from Pink Sky
  • Redwood Forest Tiny House from Ravensburger, artist Jason Taylor
  • Snoopy’s Puffer Coat from Ceaco
  • The Beach Hut from Ravensburger, artist Steve Read
  • Alpine Village from MicroPuzzles
  • Here Comes Santa from MicroPuzzles
  • St. Basil Cathedral from MasterPieces
Posted on

Puzzle Haul

I have had some fun puzzle mail recently and wanted to share it here.

  • A Day at the Bookstore from Galison, Michael Storrings
  • Cat Stamps from Re-marks
  • Starry Seasons from 1canoe2
  • Spooky Sweets from 1canoe2
  • The Chocolate from Magnolia, Alice Celia
  • Corner Bakery from Ravensburger, Elissa Della-Piana
  • Princess on the Pea from Enjoy

This Saturday I am attending a puzzle swap that is part of a puzzle competition at a local game store. I purchased a spectator/puzzle swap ticket and will be taking 15 puzzles to swap. I am really hopeful that there will be some good options for me to choose from.

Posted on

Puzzle Mail

I have been trying to reign in the puzzle buying after going a bit crazy this summer. I’m not sure how successful I have been, but here are the eight puzzles I have purchased in the last month:

  • The Cambridge from Buffalo Games, Charles Wysocki
  • You’ve Got Mail from Spaghetti Tree Puzzles, Lori Harris
  • Autumn Festival from Pieces & Peace, Abby Jacobs
  • Seasons in Kyoto from eeBoo, Jennifer Potter
  • Paris Christmas from eeBoo, Jennifer Orkin Lewis
  • English Cottage from eeBoo, Victoria Ball
  • Home of Fashion from Penny Puzzle, Gaia Marfurt
  • NYC Apartment from Ravensburger, Jason Taylor

Only the Spaghetti Tree is 500 pieces; the rest are 1000. So I’m not doing very well at trying to obtain smaller piece counts, but I am still happy with all of my purchases.

Posted on

Puzzle Haul

I have purchased a few puzzles recently that I am excited about. I am trying to get more smaller piece counts because most of the ones I have on my to do shelf are 1000 pieces. I was somewhat successful!

Puzzles in this haul:

  • Rainbow Sunrise – Buffalo Games – 500 pieces – Josie Lewis
  • Eastern Bloc Telephones – Galison – 500 pieces – Troy Litten
  • Potting Shed – Mulic – 500 pieces – Chris Bigelow
  • Happy Beads – Ravensburger – 500 pieces – Elspeth McLean
  • Sewing and Reading – Pieces & Peace – 1000 pieces – Angela Holland
  • Quaint Cafe – Ravensburger – 1000 pieces – Jason Taylor

Buying puzzles is definitely its own hobby, that’s for sure!

Posted on

So Many Puzzles, So Little Time (and Space!)

Over the last few years, my puzzle collection has grown to exceed my book collection by quite a bit. To be fair, I only own a fraction of the books I have owned throughout my life as I have downsized books several times and mostly read library or digital books these days.

So I recently had Michael help me build a new bookshelf to house more of my puzzles. It was a pretty inexpensive one from Amazon, so it’s not very sturdy, but at least it’s standing. If I ever have to move, I’m not sure it will survive the trip!

Last Saturday, I did a bit of thrifting and was really happy with the results. The last time I was at Community Aid, the puzzle selection was sparse, but this time, they had a whole bin of pretty nice puzzles and I grabbed five of them. Then I went to Blue Mountain Thrift Store, which is where my son Michael works, and I was happy to see that they had puzzles as well. A lot of them were the really old ones you tend to see at thrift stores, but they did have some newer ones and I picked out three of them to purchase.

Yesterday, I attended a pop up puzzle swap which was in the parking lot of a shopping center in my town. It was put together fairly quickly, so unfortunately only three people showed up, but the organizer is hoping to do more of them and I had an enjoyable time talking with the two other ladies who were there.

I took twenty puzzles to swap, three of which were sets with multiple puzzles in the box. One of the women took one puzzle, and the other one took one regular puzzle and one set that had four puzzles. The woman who took the set had lots of puzzles to choose from. She mostly does 1000 piece puzzles, her sister does 500 pieces, and her mom does 300 pieces, and she had a TON of 300 piece puzzles. I don’t normally do a lot of 300 pieces, but they are nice when you just want something quick and easy.

I ended up getting six new-to-me puzzles, including several from Charles Wysocki, who I am very drawn to. When I sat down at home to add them to my puzzle spreadsheet, I realized that one of them was a duplicate of one I got thrifting last weekend – oops! I’m not too upset about it; I will just pass it on to someone else.

My puzzles to swap
The puzzles I got

I think I am going to start posting the puzzles I want to get rid of on Facebook Marketplace. The woman who organized the puzzle swap yesterday shared with me that when she posts puzzles there, she mentions in the description that she is willing to swap, and some people have taken her up on that instead of just buying the puzzles. I think that would help me fill my thirst for new puzzles without breaking the bank!

Posted on

Recent Puzzle Hauls

I have acquired several puzzles over the last few weeks that I am excited about doing. Most are new but a couple are used.

  • Balloons from Ravensburger, 300 pieces – part of their Moments line and it’s just so pretty
  • Diamond Dahlia from Buffalo Games, 500 pieces – looks like a lovely rainbow puzz!le
  • Wine Country Camper from Ceaco, 750 pieces – hard to find puzzle from the Happy Camper series, had to get off Poshmark
  • Amsterdam Weekend from Antelope, 1000 pieces – have wanted this one for a while and decided to take the plunge
  • Whimsical Village, Concord, 500 pieces – saw this and loved it, found on ebay
  • The Tree of Hope, Pintoo, 300 pieces – this brand is new to me and is famous for their plastic pieces
  • Coastal Harbour, Ravensburger, 1000 pieces – recently did one by this artist, Georgia Breeze, and really enjoyed it. This came from the UK but was sold on Amazon, so I didn’t have to mess with high shipping or customs fees
  • Simple Joys, 1canoe2, 1000 pieces – I have done one other by this brand and liked it a lot, this one just looks so relaxing

I am going to try buying fewer puzzles for the next month or so and try to focus on the ones I already have. That is a really difficult challenge for me, though, so we’ll have to see how I do!

Posted on

Puzzle Haul & Thomas Kinkade Puzzles

Check out my puzzle haul! A woman from my church is moving and gave me a bunch of puzzles she didn’t want to take with her. Of course, I said I’ll take them all! I’ll do the ones I like and them pass them all to other puzzlers.

The first ones I chose to do were the set of Thomas Kinkade puzzles. They were from Ceaco, and there were 3 of them. I have never done any of his artwork and thought I would give these a try even though they are not my normal style.

I had a pleasant time doing them. The largest one was a bit tricky because there was a lot more sky and also the border has a lot of false fits. I had to mess around with the border a few times to get it right.

Collector’s Cottage – 100 pieces
Stillwater Bridge – 300 pieces
Evening in the Forest – 500 pieces

Posted on

My First Puzzle Swap

On Friday afternoon, I attended my very first puzzle swap! It was held by Susquehanna Township Parks and Recreation, and it was a lot of fun.

Each person who brought puzzles set them up on a table or on chairs around the room and then walked around the room checking out all the puzzles. Once you found a puzzle you liked, you would ask the person to see if there was a puzzle of yours they would like to trade for.

I took six puzzles but several people brought quite a few more than that, and it was fun to see all the different options. I ended up trading five of mine and donating the last one to the township summer camp program. The picture above shows the puzzles I came home with after the event.

It was a great event and it sounds like they might do it again, which I would really enjoy.

Posted on

Puzzle Haul – December 2022

As you can imagine, my wish list for Christmas this year was mostly comprised of puzzles. My birthday is also on Christmas Day, which can be seen as a good or a bad thing, depending on your perspective. Because of this, I did get a bunch of cool puzzles, so I wanted to share them here.

The first puzzle I got was actually not from either Christmas or my birthday. I had entered and won a giveaway from the YouTuber The Casual Puzzler for Whisper of Cactus, a 1000 piece puzzle from Antelope. It looks fun, although there is a lot of green, which could be tricky.

Next up are two puzzles that I got from my Secret Santa at my husband’s family Christmas. We get together on Christmas Eve and open presents at midnight. The puzzles I got are Ocean from Ravensburger’s Circle of Colors series and Songbirds from Mudpuppy. These both look like they will be fairly easy, especially since they are only 500 pieces.

After getting home at 2 AM and sleeping for a few hours, my husband, son, and I gathered in our sunroom to open the presents we got for each other. My husband got me 3 puzzles: Camping for Christmas from Vermont Christmas Company, Hungry Plants from Mudpuppy, and Favorite Things from Elena Essex. I have already done the Camping for Christmas puzzle and will post that next. Hungry Plants is another cute 500 piece puzzle, and Favorite Things is from the same brand as my favorite puzzle of 2022, Woodland Magic.

My son got me one puzzle for Christmas and one for my birthday. They were Cats in Quarantine from Exploding Kittens and Hawaiian Food Truck Festival from Buffalo Games. Both of these have a lot going on in them, so they may be a bit challenging but still look like fun.

A couple of days later, another puzzle arrived as a birthday gift from my friend Renee. It was the Ice Cream Dream puzzle from Lego. I have actually started this one and am about halfway through. It’s like doing a bunch of mini solid color puzzles. It’s harder than I thought it would be but quite satisfying to finish each section.

I am so happy with all the puzzles I got this year. I am looking forward to many hours of fun putting them together. I have already started a new wish list, however. There are just so many cool puzzles out there!