Caboodle of Cozies

We meet again! I had two appointments early last week, then the rest of the week was pretty low-key. I received my new driver's license in the mail and cancelled the appointment I had scheduled at MVA. Very thankful that is done. I'm good for another seven years. I started a new puzzle, which I will share on my blog when it's done. You will see in my blog recap below that I'm now starting to review puzzles I complete. I don't anticipate this one taking me too long, but I won't have time to work on it again until around mid-week.

We had some snow this morning, which was nice, but unfortunately it wasn't much and it didn't stick around too long. I blinked and it had already melted when I opened my eyes. We're expecting a little more on Sunday, so we'll see how much that delivers. It isn't predicted to be much. Where is my snowstorm?? I want real snow!

I thought this puzzle was really fun and different. I love the mosaic art form. It took me 3:05 using 35 non-rotating pieces.

Enjoy! Feel free to share your time in the comments if you like, and if you modified the puzzle.

Today's excerpts are from the paperback format of Public Anchovy #1 (Deep Dish Mystery 3), by Mindy Quigley.

If you've been following me for a while, you know how much I love puzzles. Jigsaw puzzles are my favorite, so I've decided I'm going to start reviewing completed ones on my blog!

I completed a 1000-piece puzzle in the fall and through December. I loved the picture, but it was very challenging. So this month, I was ready for an easier, more enjoyable experience.

Dancing Cats, by Pomegranate, was gifted to me for Christmas. The box was covered in a plastic seal. After that was removed, the lid had no seal on it, so the box was very easy to open. I then opened the sealed plastic bag inside the box that the pieces were in and I dumped them all out into the box. 

After discarding the plastic wrap and bag, I got a feel for the pieces by running my hands through them. I noticed that the pieces were larger than normal, which was also indicated by the diagram on the back of the box that shows their actual size. The pieces were very sturdy and none of them were peeling. Very high quality!

I then emptied the pieces by hand onto the puzzle board. The puzzle dust that was left in the box was minimal. Another delight! I emptied the dust into the trash can and proceeded to sort out the edge pieces, while turning all of the pieces facing up. I also sorted out the text and pieced those together. The pieces were regular shapes, so I was easily able to sort out all of the edge pieces. 

Well, that's not exactly true. As I put the edge pieces together, I realized I was missing a couple of them. It took me about an hour to put the rest of the edge pieces together.

The next day, realizing that this puzzle, although only 300 pieces, was as large as a standard 1000-piece puzzle, I left the pieces in the box so the puzzle board was clutter-free. Normally I sort the rest of the pieces by color or pattern, but I didn't feel that was a necessary step for this one. By the way, the size of the puzzle is clearly stated on the box, so there should have been no surprises on my part. On Day 2 I just started locking in random pieces that stood out to me. The butterfly was the first section I completely finished.

After an hour I had a good bit of it done ("a good bit" is an official unit of measurement, isn't it?). I was losing natural daylight and I didn't want to turn the bright overhead light on, so I called it a day.

On the third day, one by one, I picked out the pieces that had purple lines on them, while also occasionally finding other pieces that fit together. Working primarily on the purple lines, however, moved it along at a pretty good pace. After filling in the purple lines, I was able to complete the rest of it pretty easily.

I worked on it for about another hour and I finished it. Oh, and I did find those missing edge pieces I mentioned earlier. (My sincere apologies for originally silently blaming the puzzle maker for not including them.) I had some of the edge pieces on the wrong side of the puzzle. I had to move entire sections to make them fit correctly, and I also overestimated the size of the puzzle. So I moved sections of the edge pieces closer together and it all worked out. Also, at times I thought there were false fits, but when I held those pieces up to the light, I could see they did not exactly fit together.

This puzzle did not come with a separate poster, but the entire image is clear on the outside of the box. And what a fun design it is! I love cats, and seeing them in these quirky poses made me smile. I set the box beside me and used it to figure out where the pieces fit together. 

I've already taken the puzzle apart and put them in a zip lock bag. Normally I separate the edge pieces when I store them, but for a puzzle with only 300 large pieces, I didn't feel that was necessary. Maybe next time I complete this puzzle, I'll do it without looking at the picture on the box for an added challenge.

I started AND FINISHED my first puzzle of the year! (This is not including a few I've done online.) It took me three hours over three days to finish this one. When I first started it, I was trying to finish it in one sitting. After I couldn't even finish the border in one hour I knew that wasn't going to happen. But I did finish it and that's what counts! 

I've been avoiding these puzzles with the straight edge pieces because I thought they would be too easy. I decided to give it a try and I actually found it slightly more challenging that the kind with regular pieces. It took me 3:51 using 24 non-rotating pieces.

What do you think of this one?

Happy New Year!

I hope your year is off to a great start. If it isn't, there's still plenty of time for improvement!

Unlike on Christmas Day, I was able to eat dinner on New Year's Eve. It's nice not being sick, you know? My family got together that night, but I was home and asleep 30 minutes after ringing in the new year. And just like that, 2026 is off to the races!

In the non-fiction book I just started reading, The Comfort of Crows, by Margaret Renkl, she talks about the first bird of the year you see being a symbol of things to come. I thought my first bird sighting of 2026 would be a crow. But no. It was a black vulture in flight. 

Now, black vultures have dual symbolism. They can symbolize decay and endings, but they can also symbolize rebirth and transformation. I choose to see them as symbols of the latter. Black vultures are very common in my neighborhood and I happen to love them. I've always seen them as something positive. They clean up the environment, which makes them a necessary part of our world. I know that some people have had less than pleasant run-ins (or fly-ins...) with them, but I have never once heard of them hurting people in my neighborhood. I often see them on my walks, and while they can certainly look intimidating, they're actually quite docile. Trust me when I say, it's the smaller more feisty birds you have to watch out for. The vultures tend to mind their own business and leave the humans and their pets alone. (With pets, I'm referring to the dogs who walk their humans.) I love how after rainstorms, they spread their wings. I guess they're drying them. I love observing their behaviors. It's not uncommon to see a couple dozen of them on the roof of the condos across the street from where I live. I know that they hang out on my building's roof too.

So, with the vulture in mind, I am looking forward to a year of new beginnings and positive transformation. Have you noticed your first bird sighting of the year?

In other news, I finally finished a puzzle I started in the early fall. I love the picture on the puzzle, but this was a tough one! I don't think I'll ever buy a Bits and Pieces brand puzzle again. It was too much of a challenge, and at times it wasn't even enjoyable. I had planned on doing the winter one in this set next, but that looks even more challenging than this one was. The winter one has a lot of white on it with the beards and the snow. I will definitely start another one soon, but it will be an easier one.

Onto the books.

I started using the NetGalley Reading Journal last year and I stopped around May. I'm going to attempt it again and try to keep up with it every month through December. I'm not sure how well you can read the screenshot, but here's what I have for January so far. I really want to increase my NetGalley percentage. Out of 24 books, I've reviewed 12. I want to get that up to at least the recommended 80%, or even better, 100%. The reason I chose In Farms Way, by Amanda Flower, for my most anticipated book this month is because I've been wanting to read it since it was published four years ago. I can't believe how much time has passed since then. I will probably end up listening to the audiobook, but somehow I want to get it done.