The Christmas Puzzle Struggle

I've mentioned on my newsletter (if you aren't subscribed, please do. One day if there isn't a Facebook, how will I contact my readers?) that at Christmas time, our family normally does at least one 1000-piece Christmas-themed puzzle.

This year was no different, but I don't know what it was--perhaps it was the fact that my son and his wife had just had a baby (with unexpected special needs) and could not be there--but the first puzzle seemed uncommonly difficult, and the second wasn't much better.

The first one (the one with the tree and the cute forest animals having tea inside it--see below) had us groaning, it was so hard. Near the end, my son-in-law resorted to dividing the pieces into piles for how many outie and insie parts they had.

When we finally had everything put together except for the tree (above the animals) we thought we had it made, but that part proved to be the worst. Look at all the shades! Grays, browns, blues. Good grief. I low-key hated that puzzle.

When we finally completed it, we were, like, Whew! That was terrible. The next one's got to be better. It was, technically, better than the first. But Santa was standing in the most elaborately decorated room ever. All those pinecones, bells, berries, and leaves sure looked alike! It did make a very pretty puzzle, though. After doing most of Santa's head and the stainglass above, I opted out and started reading my favorite Charles Dickens book to my daughter and son-in-law while they struggled through the puzzle. That would be David Copperfield. This is probably the fifth or sixth time I've read it. We haven't finished the book, but we are done with the puzzles this year. My tree's still up, though! Longest ever, probably because I'm retired now. I'm still enjoying it.

Note: Charles Dickens wrote absolutely marvelous characters. The current joke while reading the book is Mr Dick. Every time he ejaculates or stands erect, we giggle like middle schoolers.

1st, stupidly hard puzzle

Second, Easier Puzzle