I Love puzzles!

Growing up in Mexico and Latin America, we did not have much in the way of secular entertainment. We worked, studied, went to LOTS of church meetings, took long walks, gardened and did a lot of food preparation and preserving. In what little free time we had, we read the same books over and over again, played a lot of Monopoly, and assembled the same few puzzles time after time.

Once I was grown and living back in the US, I discovered how putting puzzles together can force you to focus on minute details to such a degree that it gives your brain some space and your mind has room to breathe. Interestingly, everyone in my immediate family does puzzles quite routinely. More so in the winter months, but we all have puzzles going throughout the year.

My personal tastes in puzzles run more towards fantasy and comedy. I have most of the puzzles of James Christensen's artwork. The first one I bought myself was "Once Upon a Time". Looking at the E Bay site right now, I have all that are for sale there, with the exception of one I had not see until today, called, "A Gift for Mrs. Clause"...(I will have to look into that one!)

The latest artist whose puzzles I have begun to watch for is Ciro Marchetti. His art is also fantastical, but in a different way than James Christensen's. I especially like his Magical World Series. Until just lately, his puzzles sold more in Japan than here in the US, and they have been hard to come by. The one I wanted most was called, "Circus Parade". Amazingly, I found it a few weeks ago at an Estate Sale for $6! I was concerned because the box was split on the bottom and the pieces were not saved in a plastic bag. But after I bought it, brought it home, and put it together, I found it was complete! It took me two days, finding as much free time as I could, to put this 1000 piece puzzle together!