Sea Turtles

Sea Turtles are awesome creatures and makes for a fun jigsaw puzzle to construct. Living in North Palm Beach, Florida has given us the opportunity to see these great creatures in person. I have seen them while boating on the ocean, as well as at the local Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach. We also participated in the Turtlefest 2014 with one of my other companies, by creating a set of Cornhole Boards featuring the Loggerhead Turtle.

F-16 Falcon, The Ultimate Ride

The F-16 Fighting Falcon, which has been in production since the late '70's is one of my favorite aircraft, along with the Mustang and the Corsair from the WWII era. This jigsaw puzzle, F-16 Fighting Falcon reminded me of instrument ground school in Fort Wayne, Indiana. One evening, Kathy, our instructor, asked if we had ever seen night takeoffs of the local Air National Guard 122 Fighter Wing, also known as the 'Blacksnakes'? She said we will take a break about 7pm and go watch the afterburner take-offs. As I am writing this post and researching links, I see that the Blacksnakes are transitioning to A-10 Warthogs, another awesome fighter, though I prefer the Falcon.

Baby it's cold outside!

Baby it's cold outside! 

Well at least it is up north of Florida. Here's a reminder of warm sunny weather for our northern friends. You only have about 4-5 months to get back to short sleeves and shorts. Come next spring, you can exchange the gray & white for the blue & green.

Northern Renewal

Northern Renewal - 1000 piece Jigsaw Puzzle

We just added a number of jigsaw puzzles from Willow creek Press and this one called 'Northern Renewal' reminded me of a great time spent in Canada with my son Zach in the summer of 2008. Both of us currently live in Florida and decided to make the long trek to the 'Kag' for a week of fishing and relaxation. Kag is short for Lake Kaganagiami located in Ontario, Canada. The Leuenbergers operate a fly-in lodge and outpost camps. We always opt to 'rough it' at the Kag on the American plan, where the crew feeds us twice a day at the main lodge and provides a box lunch for the day of fishing fun. They also clean your fish! The cabins are log construction, utilizing the natural resources around them and the only way to go since you have to fly everything in to the lake. They also have indoor plumbing, yahoo!

This would be our second trip to the Kag, with the first trip in 2004 in which we drove from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Only this time we were going to fly! Zach and I set out from West Palm Beach, Florida KPBI in a Cessna 172RG, which is a four seat single engine aircraft. 

Underwater Dogs: Rocco

Underwater Dogs: Rocco - 1000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle

Puzzle Galleria welcomes a new line of Jigsaw Puzzles from Willow Creek Press! We have many pet friendly jigsaw puzzles including Rocco, a wide eyed Boston Terrier going after a tennis ball in a pool. There are many animal puzzles with the "Just" series including  Just Beagles, Just Pugs, Just Westies, and Just Yorkies to mention a few. Also added are several inspirational and nostalgic puzzles.

These 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles are 26.625" x 19.25" when completed and are loads of fun! Don't leave Rocco out in the cold, dive in and get your puzzle today!

by Lynn Vardaman

Autumn Patchwork 1000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle

It's that time of year for our friends and family up north to enjoy the fall colors. What do you mean up north? Uh, north of Florida where we moved to in 2006. We traded the gray of winter for green. Even when you take those winter flights northward, you see how everything goes gray to white.

I don't miss the snow, but I do miss the fall weather in northeast Indiana, with jacket weather, the leaves turning bright orange and red, seeing your breath, and the smell of burning leaves. October also means hockey time! I grew up listening to Bob Chase, voice of the Fort Wayne Komets on WOWO, then started attending games in the early 70's. I was also a fan of the Chicago Blackhawks and their blue collar style of hockey. Listening to Pat Foley and Dale Tallon was great fun. Anybody remember the wee-knee comment from Dale?

Having seen the Hawks a couple of times in the United Center before their recent success, we get to see them more here in Florida. They used to come down to play the Lightning and the Panthers every other year. Now with the new alignment, they will be here every year. We usually see them in Sunrise and then travel across the state to watch them in Tampa. Last time we saw them in Sunrise, it looked like the Blackhawks jerseys outnumbered the Panther jerseys. That was fun! Let's go Blackhawks!

But it's time to see the grandkids in Michigan and take a trip to the apple orchard for a hay ride, some cider and donuts, and watching the boys grow like weeds.

Fondest Memory

                       Boy’s Best Friend 300-Piece Puzzle 

One of my fondest memories was going to the lake in northeast Indiana, which was about an hour drive from our home. Most think of boating, skiing, swimming, cookouts, etc... Sure we did all of those things, but one thing that would put a damper on those activities would be a rainy day. That rainy day is one of my fondest memories. I loved the rainy days and the pitter-patter of the rain on the roof. Those were the days before DirecTV and other satellite TV. This was when you had an antennae and struggled to pick up a signal. There were many years when we didn't even have a TV at the lake, so we had to find other activities, like playing cards, or some board game like monopoly or Parcheesi. You could read a book or magazine, but one of my favorites was working on jigsaw puzzles. I can't think of a particular puzzle, but more the process of building that picture. The quiet concentration of searching for that next piece of the puzzle and looking for clues. Whether it be a shade of color or the shape of the surrounding pieces, it was always satisfying finding the next building block of your puzzle.

Today, it is more video games and TV that occupy our time. Jigsaw puzzles help to slow down the day and reduce the stresses placed upon us. It provides the opportunity to discuss the day with your family while everyone hunts those pieces.

My wife and I stop by several stores while searching for the next puzzle, but there were many times when we couldn't find anything that interested us, so we thought why not start an online store and offer many kinds of puzzles to give people more of a choice. Please check out our store and let us know what you think. We would also love to hear about your fondest memories with jigsaw puzzles.