Jigsaw Puzzle Season

Jigsaw puzzles anyone? Yes or no?

if yes, what’s your method? Borders first? Similar colors? Solitary or communal effort?

Preferred number of pieces? Subject?

Anyone do a puzzle without looking at or knowing what the picture is?

In the mid 70’s I had a circular puzzle of a pizza with toppings.   I glued it together and tacked it on the kitchen door when we lived in Ft. Knox Kentucky.  Wish I had a photo of my colorful interior decoration in government quarters.
I’ve had a couple of puzzles made from my photographs and given them as gifts.

Relaxing activity? Stress reliever? Here’s the HIstory if you’re interested.

Laura working on a Star Wars puzzle- one of four.completed puzzle 12/17/19

A Charm Bracelet Started in the Sixties

Now I’m in my sixties! 

Do you have one of these in a drawer or a jewelry box somewhere? I hardly wear jewelry nowadays.  These were popular when I was in 7, 8th grade- freshman in high school. (1966-67).  Charm bracelet definition and history

Maybe  you’re sporting one of those trendy cable types with the bead charms? Each one a carefully chosen gift by someone who knows you or a gift to self, to commemorate an interest, travel or person in your life. 

Funny, I have a guitar and a grand piano on mine but am not skilled at either. I taught myself on a Sears guitar the summer of 1964 and could strum Michael, Row the Boat Ashore but a charm to signify guitar playing is funny. And I took piano lessons, unsuccessfully.

I’ve seen gold charm bracelets in antique stores for a lot of money. You wonder about the owner and the significance of the charms collected. And a full charm bracelets can make way too much annoying noise, jingling in the theatre. 

Wednesday afternoon, I was out with a couple of friends and admired one’s bracelet with holiday charms, a charm a month bracelet. I told her about mine. She asked me if it still fit! Hmmmm, how much bigger is my wrist now? It has enough links so  yes it still does fit but I didn’t know until I got home, dug it out and tried it on. Ha!

The one charm is a typewriter with a tiny carriage that moves back and forth. Fancied myself a writer? 

I think I remember which friend gifted me the Forget-Me-Not.  There’s an enameled disk from a 1965 field trip to the UN. 

When I came home and found my old charm bracelet and went to photograph it, I mistakenly pulled out a crystal dish I thought would look good under it. The dish towel was a better solution. No reflection.

It’s silver and unpolished. I remember you could have the charms sodered on so they wouldn’t come off. If I were to add a charm for my interests today it would have to be a skein of yarn and knitting needles and places visited would fill it up and then some. Charms for my life now could be so different.

Photographing jewelry is tricky, I forgot.

One aspect I wasn’t really aware of or considering is this- “The wearing of charms may have begun as a form of amulet or talisman to ward off evil spirits or bad luck.[1]”.          

 Of course…….lucky charms! Duh!

Feel free to send a photo of your charm bracelet or a write about a specific charm. Initial pins were the rage in the late sixties, too. 


The dish towel for a backdrop 


…compared to my first thought of using a the crystal dish as a backdrop to photograph the bracelet 


The shadows from the dish looked better than the jewelry.

Plastic charm necklace from the 80’s blogpost you might remember.

Liz Tried Her Hand at the Art of Bonsai

Since the family is visiting , Erika wanted to see her longtime friend Liz.  We drove out to the country today to see  Liz and her family’s new home and all the hard work they have done (continue to do) to make it spectacular.  During the house tour she shared her attempt at Bonsai.  

She made us smile.  It can’t be easy.

I should have asked her more about it but the little brown growth had a prime spot in a sunny window in the kitchen, even though it had seen better days.

Not sure if she took a workshop or class.

Bonsai Tree

 

 

 

Here ‘s a link to the Brooklyn Botanic article on Bonsai  Small Tree, Big Heart by Julian Velasco

 

 

And here is one of the photographs of a Bonsai tree at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden I took in June when I visited my sister.

Probably more what Liz had in mind.  Bonsai means “planted in a tray” and the definition and history is here

 

Bonsai Tree Brooklyn 3 (3)

17 Years in the Making – There are Rules to Follow

1. No styrofoam in the center is allowed. Has to be a rubber band core.

2. You have to find the rubber band or be given a rubber band.

Rubber is heavy.  Like a medicine ball.  I was surprised by the weight of it.

This ball is so large that the newspaper rubber bands can’t fit around it.  A chef donates his escarole rubber bands.  Mr. Laszlo Zongor has taught a couple of young people how to start a rubber band ball the correct way.

I believe there are other rules but I can’t remember and he said to not misquote him!!

In Pittsburgh, rubber bands are called gum bands by many!

And yes, I looked it up and there is a guy who claims he has the real deal biggest authentic rubber band ball that he has stretched each band onto, individually.   My friend E at work has a ball she started 11 years ago! She said she had started to buy the lettuce, pre washed in a bag and wasn’t getting those nice big fat Romaine bands lately.

I wish I had asked what motivated them to start making the rubber band ball……………….and then the commitment to “growing it”.

 

And a P.S. from Melinda (his wife) after viewing the post

“I think the last rule you forgot was that the rubber bands cannot be lengthened by tying one to another – each band has to fit entirely around the ball on its own.  That’s the challenge at this point:  finding bands that are long enough, since most will no longer work.  ….Makes it somewhat self-limiting in size!”

Not sure who checks if one is following the rules but wanted to include it, since I forgot!