So. Christmas.

It looks like I'm going to send my nieces and nephews puzzles. These gifts will cause initial Christmas morning disappointment but possibly future date enjoyment. The feral one might fling the puzzle across the room, but that's okay. I think she's my favorite.

Errryone is getting different sizes of the same puzzle in case one thinks they received a crap puzzle and their sibling(s) received a not-so-crap puzzle, although receiving a puzzle could be considered a crap gift no matter the design, and they're all getting the puzzle I like second best*, because that's usually how gifts are selected.

Tell me of your experience with these puzzles, LW the Anglophile.

Thank you,
Beth, who needs to lay off the Masterpiece Theatre.

(*They would get my first choice, but it's unfortunately named "Nanook of the North." What were they thinking? There is a UNIVERSE of names for a freaking make-believe polar bear. https://www.wentworthpuzzles.com/us/wooden-jigsaw-puzzles/nanook-of-the-north)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2020 01:39AM by Beth.

Pretty cool.

Aren't they? My only issues are kids spill things, and they all live in humid areas. I don't know if the images will separate from the wood in humid areas. They definitely will if the kids spill something on them.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2020 11:33AM by Beth.

The puzzles would fare well in humid environs. I can imagine the wood warping over time in the tropics--maybe not even there--but the paint is more like oil or enamel or something: it isn't going to come off. In fact, you could spill orange juice on the puzzles and then rinse them off in the sink without any harm. The only real "care" issue would be making sure you didn't lose any pieces.

These are permanent possessions, more elegant paintings than traditional puzzles.

Beautiful puzzles. They are way too classy for my kids. My kids and grandkids (all feral) manage to lose a piece of every puzzle. Or, they drop a piece which the dog promptly chews up.

I've given my kids puzzles from Bits and Pieces, knowing the kids might hate or destroy them.

You are one nice auntie!

:)

I'd rather send the 12-year-old $12 (I know. I know.), but she has an Apple Watch :/

Yes, Bits and Pieces is within my budget + $12 for the 12-year-old...

Nanuk: "In Inuit mythology, Nanuk (which means polar bear in Inuktituk) was the master of the bears. Inuit hunters worshipped the great bear, believing that he decided which hunters deserved success." (Google)

"Inuit," meaning "people", is used in Canada, and the language is called "Inuktitut" in eastern Canada... "Inuit" is the plural of "inuk" meaning "person"... (Google)

So Nanook of the North is mythological but Nanuk does mean bear. I think you're good to go with puzzle choice #1. True enough it's beautiful.

I've been thinking about how to respond to your post, Nightie.

I'm not a fan of the film, "Nanook of the North."

It's supposed to be a documentary, but it's really a Noble Savage trope film about a man and his two wives, who weren't his wives, and children, who weren't his children, and their way of life, that wasn't. He supposedly died of starvation. He didn't. His name was really Allakariallak, but his name was changed to Nanook for the film. While Allakariallak might be a mouthful, it's a silent film so what the heck?

I'd be okay with buying them Nanook puzzles, but I'm not okay with buying them Nanook of the North puzzles.

It's OK, Beth. I always appreciate your opinion and unfailingly learn from it. It's good to receive frequent reminders that our backgrounds, our very essences, shape our experiences, opinions and how we perceive the world. One person's meat can truly be another's poison, IOW.

I can sail along through life just seeing the surface of a cartoon, music or other cultural entertainment or reading an interesting book that just happens to contain unfortunate references/words. Often that doesn't hit me in the heart, or at all if I'm clueless about certain issues. But I try to understand and want to know more. I think the 'woke' term is apt in many cases. Except I don't borrow the word for fear it's not mine. I still have a lot to learn and understand. The awakening seems decidedly tardy, in general.

It's important to see beyond one's own experience and to learn what certain things mean to others, not just staying sunk in one's own bunker. A recent example for me is Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben. I had NO CLUE such brands were objectionable. In fact, I thought it was a sign of inclusiveness to have Jemima and Ben represent on food containers. We've used Aunt Jemima on our pancakes as long as I can remember and I thought it was just a pretty picture on a bottle of syrup. It's good to sit up and pay attention more often. Same with Uncle Ben's. To me it's always just been good rice. But there's much more to it, of course, I have only recently come to know.

Two small examples, among countless others, I know. And they may sound insignificant. But I think, hope, it's all part of a general increasing awareness.

We have our own issues here in Canada as well, some similar to yours. One that continues to disturb me is lack of clean drinking water in aboriginal communities. How can that happen in modern day Canada, it's fair to ask, and how can it possibly take so long to solve? Often, we can feel insignificant and not able to help, but finally I'm thinking the general population could do better than that, if we wanted to.

One small way I have learned to help is that if I buy aboriginal jewellery or clothing I make sure it is designed and produced by aboriginal artists, so isn't knock-offs where zero proceeds go to aboriginal peoples/communities.

But as for many other issues, you can see I still have a long way to go. I will think more about Nanook next time and won't mindlessly just think he's cute. There is often a back story we would do well to consider.

How about penguins though? OK? I love the march of the penguins every Christmas. That film makes even my hardbitten brother cry. Every year. Easy to cry over cartoons, and cute animals IRL too. But how much do we care about our fellow humans and how do we show it? There are plenty of heartwarming examples of selfless service but we can always do better. That is obvious.

Thanks for once again enlightening me, Bethie. I appreciate you very much.

Hi Beth,

Those puzzles are extremely high quality, carved from fine wood and painted with permanent paint that doesn't deteriorate over time. When you are putting one together, it's like working with art.

That said, they might lose in a competition with an iPhone or an X-Box. My kids put some together with me when we first got them--one assembled a puzzle, then built a frame for it and keeps it as a small painting--but only use them now with Lot and I once or so a year. It'll probably be another decade or two before my children fully engage with them. By contrast, they would be unforgettable gifts for anyone with reading glasses. So I'd think of them as mainly for that rare evening on which parents and kids sit together with cocoa and holiday music.

If you decide to get them for your beloveds, at least consider getting different ones. Each is so beautiful that it would be a pity not to have some range. Would it be possible to send the puzzles and let the children figure out some way fairly to select them? How about a few different ones for each family that the youngsters can share under the (essential) oversight of the larger children we call adults? I love the structural puzzles and the art reproductions. I have a Turner that is to die for as well as some landscapes, some city views--London and Paris and Rome--and nature. But to be frank, I've never seen one that is not exquisite.

As someone who thought he was important once said, "let's go shopping!"

Lot's Wife Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> If you decide to get them for your beloveds, at
> least consider getting different ones. Each is so
> beautiful that it would be a pity not to have some
> range. Would it be possible to send the puzzles
> and let the children figure out some way fairly to
> select them?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! No.

> under the (essential) oversight of the larger children
> we call adults?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! There are no adults in the room. By comparison, my mother would make the kids wear cotton gloves, so that's out, too.


I'll think of something else. Life was so much easier when I could send them a bunch of PNW hand puppets that served as protection when fighting over PNW hand puppets.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/2020 05:48PM by Beth.

I think that's a good decision. Pearls before swine, or swine before pearls, depending on one's perspective.

The bottom line is the pieces neither taste good nor make good projectiles and hence are not great presents for young ones. The ducks, on the other hand. . .

Whirls before spines!

Whirls without end are what mormons are trying to earn. Weird, huh? I suppose that's why they love Disneyland so much.

Disneyland today, the halls of the Supreme Court tomorrow!

When i finish a puzzle, I glue it together and sometimes frame it
I made a mistake and taped a wooden puzzle together and threw out the box with the picture.
Later I untaped it and now can't finish it, as there seems to be some pieces that can go two different places.
I gave an easy puzzle to a grandchild, and that one got glued and framed too.
This year there are no plans whatsoever for dinners, get togethers or gifts. So far.

They're arrived!

LW is not kidding when she says that these are stunning puzzles.

I did like y'all suggested. I picked three puzzles of different styles and sizes, and both groups of kids are getting one of each to share.

Nightie - I did get the Nanook one, and I'm going to take a marker to the "of the North" business. They know I'm That Aunt who does Those Things. My brothers can explain.

This is how imma wrap them:

https://youtu.be/KuPuFgfykUY



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/11/2020 02:45PM by Beth.

Pics of the styles, please!

Okay, but first you have to look at this - the middle bro put this on my FB wall when I used to be on FB - warning, the picture includes a rude gesture. It also represents how I feel about being in family pictures: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/57/a7/38/57a7388e52d52fd36db287717acac743.jpg

I bought two of each (apparently I bought eight total):

https://www.wentworthpuzzles.com/wooden-jigsaw-puzzles/scaling-new-heights

https://www.wentworthpuzzles.com/wooden-jigsaw-puzzles/extra-difficult-jigsaw-puzzles/festival-of-nutcrackers

https://www.wentworthpuzzles.com/wooden-jigsaw-puzzles/nanook-of-the-north

https://www.wentworthpuzzles.com/wooden-jigsaw-puzzles/cats-selfie

Some of those are going to be really hard to assemble. In a couple of months those kids may look at you just like the little girl in the first pic!

I love them! Beautiful choices. I mean, coming from "that one sister" and all.

:)

Nanook and the Nutcracker ones - 40 pieces

Cats - 100 pieces

The fish - I should have bought one for myself. It's 250 pieces. Maybe it will force the adults to play with them. I would if I were there.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/11/2020 03:53PM by Beth.

Sometime get a puzzle from the Fine Art or Buildings and Locations groups--assuming those appeal. They are gorgeous.

On a different note, you must have spent real money on those little kids.

I've missed so many birthdays and Christmases.

Then buy stock!

If I had a bazillion duckets, I'd short Tesla. I'd leave SpaceX alone.

Puzzles are more fun.