Political World Map

Brand: Ravensburger
Pieces: 1000
Size: 70cm x 50cm
Product Code: 156528

Like a lot of people around the world, I have recently begun to stay at home during this corona-virus crisis. While our Government is still allowing my workplace to remain open (despite the fact that it really is not an essential business), I have decided it will be safer to stay home and avoid working in a shopping centre. With so many other stores closing, I hope that my boss will soon follow and allow my colleagues to also stay home. 

As for my other job, I think I will still continue to work there as long as they are able to remain open. They are technically an essential business (because they cater to the agricultural and dairy industries) and there are only five of us (including me) in a huge warehouse-type space. We're way more than the required distance apart and there's plenty of room! I also need the money, with one stream of income cut, so we'll see how that goes! 

In the meantime, I have dug out a really old puzzle that I remember purchasing while at university (over 10 years ago!) The population figures may no longer be correct along the bottom, but it was still a fun exercise to try and remember my geography while putting the puzzle together.

Hopefully we'll all get through this very soon. 

Stay home and stay safe.

Zodiac

Brand: Eeboo
Pieces: 1008
Size: 58.4cm x 58.4cm
Product Code: -

Wow! It's amazing how much can change in a week. 

Last Saturday I was still hopeful that our holiday to the USA in April could go ahead. Now it's very unlikely. Since my last post, many countries have closed their borders and gone into lockdown, and the Australian government has implemented bans on large gatherings of over 100 people (a few days ago it was 500). They have also made it so that all restaurants and bars have to have a 4m square space around each patron- social distancing in the extreme! 

Meanwhile, around the world, the coronavirus is still going strong and infecting and killing people. 

So it looks like our holiday is postponed indefinitely. 

I know it has to get worse before it gets better but this is so sad- particularly when you consider all the small businesses that are getting affected by the lack of customers (who have gone into isolation). And another factor that is really doing my head in? The people who are stockpiling and making it extremely difficult for everyone else to buy basic grocery essentials. Frustrating to the extreme!

Luckily there are jigsaw puzzles to soothe the soul and keep us occupied during these crazy and challenging times!

I have decided to put up Zodiac  today, because everything is being left to the stars to determine lately! This is a great puzzle, which can be turned any which way and still be facing the right way up, due to the way the picture was designed. Each of the zodiac signs are represented and the quality is lovely. This is the first Eeboo branded puzzle I have ever done and I was very happy with the results. I will definitely be doing more of them in the future.

The Tower Bridge Over Thames River

Brand: Trefl
Pieces: 1500
Size: 85cm x 58cm
Product Code: 26140

With the spread of Corona Virus worldwide, the travel industry is really feeling the strain. So many people are being forced to cancel their holidays for fear of the pandemic, especially with so much uncertainty about how long this will be going on for. We have booked  to visit the USA next month and hopefully that will still go ahead. A couple of my colleagues have booked for the UK in July and they're just as hopeful. But time will tell...

In the meantime, the only way that many people will be travelling is by staying at home and viewing pictures of the places that they want to visit! I suppose that's where jigsaw puzzles of travel scenes come in handy! 
The above puzzle features one of London's key landmarks, The Tower Bridge. Although I have never been there I would love to visit it one day. In the meantime, I will have to settle for the puzzle image.

This puzzle was from Trefl and was very good quality. I haven't done many from this brand before, as they are not readily available to me. However, I was very pleased with the ease of putting it together. Some parts of the sky were a little bit difficult due to similar blue shades, but I got there in the end! Overall, it was very satisfying to complete it!

Sisters Of Sun

Brand: Anatolian
Pieces: 1000
Size: 48cm x 66cm
Product Code: 3065

Tomorrow is International Women's Day, so I thought it would be fitting to put up this beautiful puzzle of three strong women. 

When I first saw this design, I thought it was so striking, but it was difficult to find. Anatolian is not as easy to purchase in Australia as some of the other puzzle companies, and there are only a few businesses I have been able to find that stock the brand. 

Luckily, one of the ones I do purchase from had this particular design in stock so I was able to get it. The colours are so rich and the design is so pretty. I've only done a few Anatolian puzzles but, like the others, the quality on this one was wonderful.