This is the only Kaj Stenvall painting I’ve seen with no Finnish title. Given the duck as a turkey, the flag on the wall reminiscent of the American flag, and the title, it seems to be a reference to the American holiday of Thanksgiving, but as usual, I have no idea what the message is supposed to be.
The puzzle itself was one of the easiest in the series, and I did it pretty much in one sitting. Unfortunately, two missing pieces. This is puzzle #29/30 in the series, and amazingly, these are the first missing pieces that I’ve had. Getting really close to the end of the duck puzzles now, just one to go!
Thanks, But No Thanks by Kaj Stenvall, Tactic, 1000 pieces. Completed on April 10, 2024.
This was a really fun to do, I enjoyed it a lot! You can’t see it in the photo, but the duck is holding a paint brush (the kind you use for art), and I think the everything except the duck and the floor he is standing on is a painting that he has just finished.
From the Master’s Brush by Kaj Stenvall, Tactic, 1000 pieces. Completed on April 10, 2024.
There is no information about the image on the box, so I don’t know if this is an actual ancient image or something more recent. As a puzzle, it was quite challenging, especially the white background and the hieroglyphs.
Egyptian, Bluebird, 1000 pieces. Completed on April 8, 2024.
This was reasonably entertaining, although I have to say I’m not really a fan of this artist.
Accidents and Emergencies by François Ruyer, Piatnik, 1000 pieces. Completed on April 5, 2024.
For the puzzle challenge, this will be #1, human anatomy, mostly because of the x-rays:
This was the last item still left on the list for the 2024 puzzle challenge that I’ve now completed. I will probably continue doing the monthly bonus challenges.
The first Stenvall puzzle with portrait orientation – I only realized, when I started on it. There is one more puzzle with this orientation in the series, and I think they might have been the last to be produced, because the pieces are thinner and the fit is not as good as with the other puzzles in the series. The less than stellar quality made it less enjoyable than usual, but still ok.
Everything is Open by Kaj Stenvall, Tactic, 1000 pieces. Completed on April 4, 2024.
The title is an exact translation of the Finnish title, although the word open is also used figuratively in the meaning “undecided”, and without context that would be my first interpretation of the Finnish sentence, but here, of course, we can see a literally open window in the image.
I was expecting this to be difficult, but somehow it wasn’t. After I had started on some things, like the chair, the wigs and one of the gowns, it was somehow always easy to find pieces that fit in with what was already finished. Unfortunately, there were two pieces missing. I bought this new, and I doubt I managed to lose two pieces, especially as they are next to each other.
Behind the Scenes by Aimee Stewart, Ravensburger, 1000 pieces. Completed on April 2, 2024.
Anyway, there were lots of lovely details in the puzzle. I especially liked the colourful wigs:
The bonus challenge for April was a crown, and I could find at least six crowns or tiaras in the puzzle. Here are three of them:
A little snack while waiting for the bonus challenge for April to be published. It was nice enough, although the dark areas took a while. The box was square, and I didn’t really realize that the puzzle would be portrait format until I had started.
Macarones, Ravensburger, 300 pieces. Completed on April 1, 2024.
I haven’t done a space puzzle in a while, and it turns out I still love them! For the puzzle challenge, I’m counting this as #12, my favourite brand. No surprise there, it’s still Ravensburger.
Planetary Vision, Ravensburger, 1000 pieces. Completed on March 30, 2024.
A very pleasant puzzle, although the fit was so tight that I damaged a few pieces while taking it apart. Since I really like lazy Sunday breakfasts, I’m counting this as #11, “the puzzle somehow illustrates my personality or me” for my puzzle challenge. Although honestly, I would probably not have the breakfast in bed, that would be too messy even for me.
Sunday breakfast by Aimee Stewart, Schmidt, 1000 pieces. Completed on March 24, 2024.
Anyway, I have a lot of lazy mornings to look forward to, because I’m taking four months off work! This is made possible by a system that we have in Finland (although not for long, the government has decided to discontinue it, this was my last chance) whereby if you fulfill certain requirements (like having a 20 year work history), you can take up to six months off and be paid 70% of what you would get if you were unemployed. Your employer then has to hire an unemployed person for the time you are gone, although they don’t have to perform the same tasks that you do. Overall an excellent scheme to give people who have worked for a long time a bit of a break, and also to give someone who is unemployed a chance to work for a while. I actually started in the library as a sub in this scheme. That was in January 2002, and I’m still there, so the scheme also helped me find a permanent job. Too bad that it’s being discontinued, but at least I can do whatever I please, every day, until August 1!
Puzzler1909 