Camping for Christmas from Vermont Christmas Company was the first puzzle I did from my December puzzle haul and the last puzzle I completed in 2022. It was a gift from my husband, and I was so happy to get it!
I would classify this as a medium difficulty puzzle. The edges and the main part of the campers were pretty easy to complete, but from there it got harder. I did the Christmas trees and as much of the people and animals as I could, then I hunkered down and worked on each quadrant of the puzzle to fill in the missing pieces. These were mostly snow and trees with some lights thrown in.
Here is a picture of the completed puzzle:
And here are some closeups of the campers:
I’m glad I got to do three Christmas puzzles this year. I enjoyed all of them, and they definitely enhanced the holiday experience for me.
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!
I did another Christmas puzzle this week. This one was the Michael Storrings New York City Subway from Galison. It was 500 pieces. I actually received this puzzle for free from Galison, after I contacted them regarding the defects I found in a previous puzzle of theirs.
This was a super fun puzzle to do! I really enjoyed the image with all of the different buildings and vehicles. The pieces were good quality, with no false fits or bent/broken pieces. The feel of the puzzle was much better too. I would rate the difficulty level as easy, especially because there were no solid color areas or difficult textures.
Here is a picture of the completed puzzle:
I’m not sure if I’ll get another puzzle done before Christmas. I have a busy schedule this weekend, and then Christmas is next Sunday. I am off work between Christmas and New Years’, though, so I’m hoping to do some puzzling then.
Just before Thanksgiving, I completed my first Christmas puzzle of the season. I had taken the whole week off from work and had been very productive, taking care of various administrative duties and running a bunch of errands, so I decided to take a break and do some puzzling. After this, I put up our Christmas tree and decorated the house a little with the help of my son Michael.
This was such a fun puzzle to do! I enjoyed the image very much, and the puzzle quality was very good as well. The puzzle is a 500 piece puzzle from Bits and Pieces. I’m sure I will enjoy doing this puzzle for years to come.
I started my personal winter break today. I will still be doing some work, but I won’t be working my regular hours until after the New Year. I was so productive today:
Took Baxter to daycare
Took Michael for bloodwork
Went to the store and got a few things, including stuff to make Peanut Butter Blossoms (requested by Michael)
Cleaned the cat box (I don’t do this often enough!)
Called the gas company
Emailed the lawyer about Michael’s SSI appeal
Did some filing
Went to Rite Aid for Michael’s new weight loss medication and the rest of our stocking stuffers
Went to the library
Made lunch
Made Peanut Butter Blossoms with Michael (used dark chocolate Kisses because that’s all they had at the store)
Went back to the store to get stuff for chocolate chip cookies (Joe’s favorite)
Picked up Baxter from daycare
Made dinner
Wrapped Christmas presents
Checked my work email
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and we are going to make the chocolate chip cookies. Michael asked if we could watch a Christmas movie, so after dinner we are going to watch Christmas Vacation.
For Christmas Day, the three of us are celebrating in the morning with stockings and presents. Then Michael’s dad is picking him up at noon, and Joe and I are going to his parents’ house at 2pm. His dad has recently stopped treatment for his stomach cancer, plus he has a lung disease, so he wants to have his kids there for Christmas. There won’t be any grandkids, so it will just be ten of us.
Sunday night Michael will come home, and then he has all of next week off school. He does have some past assignments that weren’t turned in, however, so I will be working on those with him. Monday I get to do something I have never done before – prep for a colonoscopy. I am having my first colonoscopy on Tuesday morning. I have had many endoscopies, but never a colonoscopy.
Wednesday a friend of mine is coming over with her boys. She is going to work remotely in the afternoon while the boys play with Michael, but then we will get to visit after she is done with work for the day. I am really looking forward to their visit!
Thursday I will probably work, and then Friday (New Year’s Day) I am going to make the turkey dinner I had planned for Christmas Day before we got asked to go to Joe’s parents’ house for Christmas.
So it should be a nice holiday season. Hope you all have a happy holiday season as well!
In So Many Words 