Bruin Trouble!

My newest addition to my collection. I've seen a lot of puzzles out there that I don't have but I've never seen this one! I never seen it up for auction or in any of the research material I have concerning old puzzles. So that makes it a valuable addition to my collection.

More Jigsaw Pictures

Here's a link to see more pictures of some of my favorite puzzles from my FACEBOOK page.

Two Great Puzzles

I wanted to add a couple of pictures since it has been quite some time since I posted anything new here. I was lucky enough to add two more puzzles to my collection. Both are great examples of the type of puzzle that I like to collect, mainly hunting themed.
The first on is called "Close Quarters" and shows a scene of a couple of hunters that are in close contact with an angry bear. The next one is called "Rarin' To Go" showing a great picture of a dog that knows it is time to start the hunt! I haven't had time to put these two together but am looking forward to it. So if you come across this blog and have a puzzle with this type of theme let me know. I'm always buying any that I don't have.

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas in March! Impossible you say? Hardly. My presents arrived on my front door step yesterday. Jolly old Saint Nick might not have been the one to personally deliver them but he had his local agent do the job. Instead of a sled with reindeer he arrived in a white truck propelled by horsepower. And instead of a bright red suit he wore a blue uniform and shorts. He was my mailman.

Although he tried to leave my package and quietly disappear, I could feel something in the air and went to check. There next to the door was a small package. I bent to pick it up and could tell by the weight that it was going to be something good. Then I noticed the return address and my heart skipped a couple of beats as my mind quickly thought of the contents.

The address was Petersburg, the name was Abdon, the package was gold! OK, it was really cardboard but you know what I mean. I placed the package on the kitchen counter and just stared at it. My mind said open it, my heart said open it, my common sense said are you crazy?? Kim has to be here for the opening and she's still at work! So it sat....and sat.....and sat all afternoon as I watched the clock.

It was only a couple of hours later and she arrived home but it felt like days. She saw the package sitting out of place on the kitchen counter and approached it more with anticipation than with curiosity.
Once she saw the return address she knew what it was and quickly grabbed the closest knife. The package was opened in a blink of the eye and with the precision of a surgeon.

We both smiled as it was slowly opened and although impossible, in my mind I could almost smell the treasure inside. When the packing material was removed we could see the familiar white lids of our beloved limburger cheese. Six jars. Sitting there. Quietly. We just stared. We each picked up a jar and held it carefully, almost as gently as if it were an egg. Aunt Sue had come through.

As we read the card we saw that Sue wanted us to keep two jars and we were to give two jars each to Jan and Faye. Quite a bit of responsibility and trust there don't you think? But we all know that they will get their jars, safe and sound the next time we go to visit. We'll have our two jars and we'll ration them like it was World War II and we were in a prisoner of war camp.

So our limburger searches are mostly over. None to be had in our area. All stores are empty. But we'll still find ourselves glancing through the dairy section of any new store we happen to visit. That will be a habit hard to break for many months to come. And who knows, maybe sometime in the future Kraft will realize that they made a huge mistake and start production again. Hey, it could happen....miracles do occur.......I just had Christmas in March!

Stop The World! Say It Ain't So!

I know this is a subject that doesn't belong on a blog about jigsaw puzzles but......

Help! If you grew up in the northern Kentucky area or if you are a member of the Massey family in Boone County, then you know all about Mohawk Valley Brand Limburger cheese spread by Kraft Foods. (Don't worry, you can't smell it from your monitor!)

Kim and I as well as tons of family members (I'm talking quantity not combined weight) have enjoyed this great cheese for many, many years and it is, in all probability, our favorite "family-is-together-let's-eat-something-special" snack.

Now the sad part....Kraft is no longer going to produce the cheese and has actually stopped production a few weeks ago! And they did it with NO notice to any of their addicted limburger lovers.

So, by the time we heard about this from Aunt Faye or Aunt Jan or whichever relative that broke the news to us (I'm in withdrawals right now so I can't really think straight), no stores in our area had any left on the shelves! Nada, zilch, none, zero, all gone! ...Hang on a minut I cant se the keybord for al of the tears faling........

OK, I can get through this......If we had only known! We would have stockpiled all remaining jars known to exist. And believe me, if all of the family that eats this had ran out and bought every jar the national debt would have been positively affected! Not to mention the extra jobs that would have been created in the workforce for more grocery baggers, cashiers, truck rental companies and refrigerator manufacturers.

But with no warning we were left out in the cold, abandoned on the ice covered doorways, staring up at the sky and screaming "Nooooooooooooo! Please say this is a nightmare".

The Aunts have called Kraft, I have e-mailed Kraft, we have all cursed Kraft but it's all for naught. They have a pleasant voice saying how "sorry" they are (liars!) and that the "demand wasn't there" to continue production but, gee, thanks for being a "loyal Kraft customer", blah, blah, blah. Hey, if the production was down it was only because we have been very busy these past few weeks fixing up the new place and Doug started a night job and Grandma was busy packing to come visit the Florida family and so we all skipped a few sandwiches. Don't punish the rest of the limburger junkies for our mistakes!

At first I instantly thought of a boycott against Kraft, where I wouldn't eat any more of their products. That would show them! They'd be sorry! They'd go out of business! But then I remembered......they also made shredded cheddar cheese and Velveeta and Philadelphia cream cheese and Cool Whip and Ritz crackers and Premium saltine crackers and Jet-Puffed Marshmallows, etc, etc..........so I thought that might not be the best idea I've ever had. I decided to allow them to remain in business but I'd still be upset over the limburger thing. (See how weak I have gotten since I can't get my limburger fix?)

So what's left to live for? Well, besides the items I listed above and hamburgers and pizza and....see, I've lost my thoughts again!

I suppose I'm writing this to ask for help. If anyone happens to look in a dairy case in any store in America and you spot a jar of this ambrosia, then please, please, please buy all you find and send them to me and I'll gladly pay your ransom price.

After much strategical planning, the Aunts and Uncles down here have determined that most of the name brand grocery stores have sold out. When you ask the dairy guy about it they just turn their eye away to avoid the pain they would see and quietly say, "Sorry, we don't carry that anymore" as they drop the egg cartons and run to the back of the store. So our thoughts are that the only hope we have is in the Mom & Pop stores hidden on the back streets of major cities or the "one-store-onlys" in small rural towns. That is where we will turn our attention. We'll fill up the car with $3.50 per gallon of gas and set out across America in search of our stinky nectar of life. (Well, metaphorically at least because I have to cut the grass).

To prove this point I'll have you know that yesterday the Aunts received a call from Aunt Sue (yes, there are plenty of aunts to go around) who lives in Petersburg, Kentucky. Someone put a bug in her ear that she should check out the local grocery store (see, a "one-store-only" town). Her trek was well worth it because lo and behold the store still had some left in the cooler! One jar or two? Could she be lucky enough to get 3 maybe 4 jars??? Try 17! Yes, limburger junkies, I said seventeen (17) jars! The mother lode. Gold in the creek. Oil in the ground. Cash in the mattress. Limburger in the cooler!

Oh, needless to say she bought all 17 jars....hang on, th tears ar faling agin.......

Our first thoughts were if we left right away and drove all night could we get to her house in the middle of the night and use the hidden key under the bird bath to silently sneak into the kitchen and make off with 8 or 9 of the jars....OK, OK....all 17.
But then we realized that she would have had time to hire a private security company and get a barbed-wire electric fence built around the entire block with spotlights and guard towers.

So we took a deep collective breath, sighed softly, looked up at the sky and silently asked "why us?" and we went to our respective beds to have the worse night's sleep in years.

Can you help us? Pretty please.......

Missed That Last One....

Well, I missed out on that puzzle in the auction. A little too high for me. But the good thing is that you usually see another one just like it in the near future.

Of course, some of the more rare puzzles don't show back up very often but most do. So I'll just be patient and when another one comes up for sale it will usually be sold at a cheaper price.

Make sure you contact me if you have any for sale and want them to go to a good home.

Bear In Mind

This is a great looking puzzle that I'm currently trying to buy and add to my collection.


It is titled, "Bear In Mind" and made by the Perfect Picture Puzzle company.

There is also another copy of this made by another puzzle maker, (TUCO?). It shows the exact same scene but is titled, "Unexpected Visit".

Wish me luck!