Tag Archives: puzzle

February 28, 2026 · 1:36 am

Saturday 2-28-2026

victoryroad.com

I love the optimism in this. Whether it’s true or not, or whether or not you achieve what you’re striving for, it’s the STRIVING and ATTITUDE that are important. Don’t give up on yourself or stop reaching for more.

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This was what awaited me when I returned from sharing dinner with Brian last night. Khun Nong not only left my place spotless, she brought flowers and left this arrangement for me to enjoy. I have never had a housekeeper before. It just wasn’t affordable in our home in Arkansas. I’m beginning to think I may never be able to talk about my housekeeper without being in awe about the whole thing. What a beautiful luxury. AND I won the lottery on housekeepers. When I say “spotless,” that includes washing the windows inside and out, baseboards, floors, kitchen and bath, lining up all my stuff more neatly than I ever leave it…. AND she brings me flowers.

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“Watercolor Dreams” by R. G. Ryan – Book 1 of the Jake Moriarity Series

Brian and I went to visit my husband, Harvey, at the nursing home today. When we walked into his room, he was reading! He didn’t want to talk to us because he wanted to finish the book!!! This is my voracious reader husband acting ‘normal’ for the first time since last April when he had his stroke. We sat and propped up the book a bit for him while he finished the book. Then he asked if there was another one in the series. We have now ordered the 2nd book, “Finding Wonderland” by R.G. Ryan, for him.

He was calm and comfortable, so that was good, as well. He told us he had gotten married (AGAIN!) since we saw him Tuesday. This was a different woman than the one he was going to marry Tuesday. He said he married her, but this was a different one. Couldn’t remember her name…

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everymum

After I finish writing posts for the blog today, I plan to do some painting, plus work on my puzzle. Pretty nice day

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Some of you have another day of February left, but we in Thailand are bidding February adieu here today. I’m hoping that spring is coming to the states very soon now. If I were there, I would be planning my spring raised-bed, square foot veggie garden now, plus deciding what I would add to our planters all around the house for the spring and summer. I hope you do it for me, if you enjoy doing that…

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January 26, 2026 · 2:18 am

Monday, 1-26-2026

Tracy Chrest – Substack

This photo is gorgeous, isn’t it? I would love if one day I could try to paint something that resembled it.

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CBS News

Today has been a quiet, nice day for me. I have my windows open again, enjoying a nice breeze. I’ve been checking on my friends to find out how they are weathering the winter storm so far. I’ve reached a bunch, and so far, they are fine, but I haven’t reached everyone, and the weather is still causing havoc.

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Deposit Photos – Kiddipedia

I’ve started a painting. Hopefully, I can finish it soon and can share it with you. I’ve been grinning the whole time I’ve been painting! 😁

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My turtle puzzle is super challenging. This is definitely the hardest puzzle I have ever tried to work. I may die of old age before this one is finished….

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Pinterest

I will do a session of yoga as soon as I finish writing blog posts. On my yoga days, I’m also doing an exercise where I’m standing up straight, reach up for the ceiling as high as possible, then bend over and try to touch my toes – doing it several times slowly, putting as much stretch into it as I can. I’m also doing mini sit-ups, with legs straight and then with legs bent, plus trying to hold a plank position. My plank is pathetic. It hurts my TOES to get into this position. I tried wearing my slippers, and that helped a bit, but not enough to really try to concentrate on my core. Today I’ll try wearing my tennis shoes and see if that changes my focus…

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123RF

Tomorrow we’re leaving early to meet my husband and his nurse at the hospital for his routine blood work and exam with his main doctor there. We want them to okay removal of my husband’s nasal feeding tube, since he is now able to eat and drink without choking or aspirating anything into his lungs. We want him to be able to eat and drink normally when he’s hungry or thirsty, not to be force-fed nutrition. Fingers crossed that we are all in agreement tomorrow. 🤞

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Stay safe and warm!

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January 20, 2026 · 10:20 pm

Wednesday 1-21-2026

Hug – Giphy.gif

Did you know that today is National Hugging Day? Neither did I, but I think this should be celebrated at least once every DAY…

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It’s a really lovely day here in Thailand – sunny and 77 degrees F. right now. I just turned off the air purifiers and threw open the windows to bring the warm air in. I’ve been standing in my window in the sunshine from time to time while the temperature warmed up. Really nice! 🌞

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This is the jigsaw puzzle that is stumping me now. I love the colors, though, and some of the fish on either side are emerging. I have two of the smaller turtles ready, but not attached to anything – the last thing will be the main attraction – the big turtle in the middle. I have only found some pieces of his stomach so far…

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Picklebums

Today I’m going to concentrate on sketching. I only did one yesterday and didn’t paint anything, so my art alcove is calling to me.

Tenor

This is Wednesday, so I’ll do a session of my old lady yoga stretches this afternoon.

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And that’s my exciting day! I can’t tell you how much I enjoy finally being retired, pampered, able to choose an activity that gives me joy to do with few interruptions!

Do something FUN today. It’s good for your health!

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January 16, 2026 · 9:16 pm

Today is a Good Day To –

Nanea Hoffman – Sweatpants and Coffee LLC

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This is the only ‘to do’ list I will ever have anymore. I’ve spent my life completely overwhelmed by endless lists that never got accomplished, no matter how long or hard I tried. The weight of them sapped my strength and I promised myself that as soon as I finished, “______” I would take some time to do something I enjoyed. That time rarely, if ever, came. I felt guilty when I took time with my art. I gave up jigsaw puzzles. I read for pleasure, but only after a reasonable number of things had been marked off for the day.

I loved my life in Arkansas. We had a beautiful home we had built in 1987. We had planned to have an earth-sheltered home, with only a cupola above ground. We found 8 acres of woodland on top of a ridge line that faced the south, perfect for our desires, and had FHA approved plans in hand. We couldn’t find ANY builders who would take up the project, though, due to all the rock on our land. We finally found a plan above ground we could live with. We had to use dynamite to put in a septic system, more dynamite for the basement, and even more for the backyard swimming pool. (We ran out of money for the pool, so it just remained a fond dream.)

We couldn’t afford to hire much done, and we both worked in Ft. Smith, so it was tough to get things done. Our time outside of work was raising our son, who kept us hopping – bright, eager, curious, and full of mischief, plus taking care of the house, our ‘yard,’ and our pets, running errands, doing chores…

By the time we moved to Thailand last April, it had become impossible for us to keep up with everything, though we gave it our best shot. It was a bittersweet ‘relief’ to sell what we could, auction the rest, re-home our beloved pets, and walk away.

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Now, in Thailand, with my husband in a nursing home due to a fall and stroke 2 weeks after we arrived, I have given up the traditional list of chores in favor of Nanea Hoffman’s list above. I am SO much happier for it. I find joy each and every day in small things – things I see, like a squirrel in the tree right outside my window –

to the bird standing on someone’s a/c unit out one of my front windows –

to the ‘decision’ of whether I want to research for more blog posts, start painting one of my sketches, read another chapter in my latest book, work on my ‘turtle’ jigsaw puzzle, do an exercise session, or take a walk around the block, enjoying the sunshine…

I’m listening to my body. I’m trying to get healthier. I’m feeling better now than I have felt in a long time. The kindness of the Thai people makes my eyes fill up. I’m getting a lot of practice saying, “thank you,” (sounds like “cawp coon ka’-ah”)

I know you’re busy and probably are saying to yourself – “good enough for HER. She’s retired now, doesn’t have to work all day, take care of the house and kids, only cooks when she wants to – while “I’M” buried alive in ‘have-to’s…”

I HEAR YOU. I’ve been there and I REALLY do hear you. But I hope that you can give yourself permission to allow yourself time at the beginning or end of the day – maybe on a lunch break or even while taking a quick shower – to FEEL. To listen to yourself and just acknowledge what you’re feeling right then. BREATHE. RELAX. And take the time to plan 15 minutes a day when you can do something that makes you smile – even giggle. I hope that one day you can adopt Nanea’s list as I have. You deserve it.

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December 27, 2025 · 1:40 am

Saturday 12-27-2025

These are the last two sketches I painted.

Today is a good day. We didn’t have anything on the schedule after going to the gym, so I’ve been able to bounce from one activity to the next without worrying about what time it is.

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Sew Fabulous

I did a bunch of sewing today. I only do rudimentary sewing, but I have a very small sewing kit and have been doing things like taking in the waist of my jeans until I got to the point where I wanted to buy more. Today I darned a sock; I rolled up the pants legs of my new jeans and tacked the rolls in place so I don’t fall on my head tripping over my too-long jeans. The style here seems to be long jeans, though, so my shortness isn’t a problem, as long as I don’t sprawl headlong into something. I also shortened and hemmed the sleeves of the 3rd blouse that needed that. I put a gold star (mentally) on the calendar today for all this. 🌟

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Reddit

I have 4 more pounds to lose to get to at least my interim weight loss goal. The end is in sight after over two years of trying to lose the lard. The new jeans were a celebration of getting to this point. Even if I decide to go for 9 more pounds, these jeans will be fine. I still can’t believe I’m almost there. You will be able to hear me cheering when I reach the final goal and begin maintenance!

Marao.ge

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Today I have done a piece of this, a little of that, and back again, varying my activity to try to stay productive. I’ve been working on my puzzle, closing in on finishing it now. My son will get to gripe when I show him the finished puzzle and ask him to take a pic to send to the glass print place.! 🤭

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Khun Nong, my wonderful housekeeper, left me a little surprise yesterday. I had received a really nice gift from one of the servers at the cafe where we go regularly to get out of Khun Nong’s way while she cleans. There was a zippered pouch, a bunch of stickers, a stuffed Christmas tree, a stuffed cute critter, etc. I loved it. I’m using the pouch with the Christmas tree attached as a holder for my sketching supplies. I put a couple of stickers on my sketchbook. He was really happy when he saw I was using his gift yesterday😁.

If you’ll look closely, you can see a couple of additions to the corner of my art alcove – a cute stuffed critter is hanging from my plant spritzer, and there is a small thing sitting on one of the leaves of my orchid plant.

This is another of the things the server included in my gift – at first glance it looks like a frog, but it’s a cute little kid wearing a frog outfit. I never would have thought of putting it here, but it looks like just the place.

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I hope that you are enjoying your Christmas weekend, whether you’re into it, as I am, or just starting it. Have fun!

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October 29, 2025 · 11:37 pm

Thursday Thoughts 10-30-2025

I have always been impressed by black and white images taken by skilled photographers, but I’m drawn like the proverbial moth to a flame to color. The more of it the better.

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Halloween is almost upon us. I have a couple of sketches ready to paint that have a Halloween theme. They make me feel as if I’m celebrating a bit, even though I’m in Thailand now. 😃. I’ll work on those today.

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Today I took a virtual treadmill vacation to ‘nature’s paradise’ I’ll call it. Maybe it was Oregon, but I enjoyed walking along wooded paths, across icy patches on hilly slopes, beside rushing streams, seeing some glorious waterfalls, mountain-top ponds and lakes, and finally up to huge boulders in the middle of a flat plain then down a path across the sand to the ocean! Not a person nor building to be found. Lovely!

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After breakfast Brian and I went to get cash for my massage and cleaning lady tomorrow. He followed me back to my place so he could take pictures of my finished jigsaw puzzle to order a glass print of it for me. When I told him about loving to FEEL the finished puzzle, he looked at me with his eyebrows raised. He said he would “leave us alone so we could have some privacy.” I laughed my head off. 🤣. I call myself a ‘puzzle pervert,’ but my friend Marsha suggested a much kinder term, a ‘puzzle appreciator.’

I will leave the finished puzzle on my table until the new one arrives. Then I’ll take it apart and leave it in a gallon-sized plastic bag with the picture that came with it in the recycle area in the building so someone else can enjoy it.

I’m looking forward to starting my turtle puzzle.

Remember to include some fun in your day. Laughing is great exercise, you know. 😂🤣😛

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September 9, 2025 · 2:09 am

I DID IT!!!!!!

I did it! I FINALLY finished the owls jigsaw puzzle yesterday! To the last piece, it was quite a challenge. I had to shift whole parts of the puzzle to the left, move the bottom down, remove part of the left side to get it right, but things finally came together. I’ve never had such a difficult puzzle where pieces looked like they fit, but they didn’t. ARRRRGH!

I showed Brian when we returned from visiting my husband at the nursing home. He looked it over carefully, compared it to the picture I have on the wall, and declared, “I guess I believe it.” He said he didn’t think I would finish it. I think that started the ball rolling on my determination to do it. 😃

Brian declared that the owl above is glaring at me because it took me so long to finish the puzzle.

This guy Brian thought was merely staring at me.

The ones on the right were chattering about me in amazement that this was so difficult for me.

My housekeeper, Khun Nong, showed an interest in the puzzle last Friday. I told Brian I would keep the puzzle on the table at least until she got to see the finished piece. I will also keep it until I get the new puzzle that Brian ordered me today!

I LOVE, love, LOVE being able to leave my puzzle out right in the living area of my place not worrying about it being in anyone’s way, causing any problems, making demands on how quickly it comes together. It used to drive my husband nuts when I would have one out, even in my art studio upstairs, so I just stopped trying to do them for quite a while. I’m SO enjoying playing with them now.

I rediscovered how good a puzzle FEELS when the pieces are together. I’m now enjoying stopping each time I pass it and running my hands over it, or just placing my hands on top of it and enjoying how it feels. 🤗

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August 13, 2025 · 10:10 pm

8-14-2025

Tina Ann

I had a good walk at the gym this morning. I’m gradually speeding up my ‘slow’ and ‘fast’ speeds (2 minutes and 3 minutes respectively) so that I’m adding a small bit of distance to my 30 minute walk. So far the changes have resulted in my walking almost 1.5 miles each morning, up from 1 mile. 😛

I’m using part of today to get ready for my cleaning lady to come tomorrow. I’m changing the sheets on my bed, gathering trash, gathering towels for wash and putting out clean ones. My laundry is on the balcony drying.

I am enjoying having a cleaning lady for the first time in my life SO MUCH! I am neater here than I was in the states. Much of it has to do with not having so much STUFF. Another part is having so much less space to put stuff IN. Part of it is living alone. Even with being neater, though, it is wonderful to have someone scrub things from top to bottom, dust EVERYTHING, and she even lines things up – MUCH neater than I do – so that things are perfect when she leaves. She even puts up with my puzzle pieces now filling the table. (I’m also using my step stool to handle the bagged single pieces I have left.)

I hope that you are enjoying your day (or evening) and finding lots of things that bring you joy.

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June 18, 2025 · 3:34 am

Our Happy New Routine

Vista Create

I have been in Thailand about 2-1/2 months now. We have had a whirlwind of activity with my husband’s health, moving to my condo, changing out the furniture, figuring out all the details we needed to do every day in order to get our lives going here.

Now things are finally taming down. There are still a LOT of details to be handled, and we are doing these the best we can, but our day to day lives have begun to settle into a routine now, and I’m embracing that new life.

Our typical day now looks like this –

I get up at 5am to get ready to go to the gym with Brian and walk on the treadmill while he runs. We walk back, shower, and then share breakfast and discuss if there is anything we need to accomplish that day. Three times a week that includes half the day going to visit Harvey at the nursing home, making sure he is okay, comfortable, and as content as possible. Many other days, though, we don’t have anything that we can do from our list.

Brian is trying to do more work, since expenses of taking in both of his parents – particularly the hospital/nursing home surprise – is a bit hard to handle. So, if we don’t have anything scheduled, he goes off to work and we then share dinner.

This means he is free to concentrate on doing well for his clients, and I am free to do whatever I would like to do with my day.

Today I spent quite a bit of time in my art alcove.

I love spending time here. I thought I would grieve at having given up all my carefully collected art stuff, but I’m concentrating on trying to learn how to draw what I see better. I keep these in the big fat sketchbook you see here. I have regular pencils, colored pencils, and watercolors. I am choosing pictures I like from the net, particularly YouTube and Pinterest, and trying to reproduce them the best way I can. I’m having SUCH a good time trying. I don’t feel pressured to produce anything for sale. (Thank goodness!) I can simply enjoy the process of trying to draw and paint something for the sheer joy of it, wiling away the hours with a grin on my face. I’m also making small paintings for my housekeeper each week, thanking her for her work, and for my new ‘grandson’ who loves dinosaurs.

I’m always in the middle of a good book, too. The current one is another Nora Roberts book. I can’t believe I’ve missed any because she is probably my favorite author right now, but I’m delighted to dive into anything she has written.

I am trying to balance my walking on the treadmill in the morning with yoga stretches in the afternoon or evening. I’ve been doing these stretches for a long time, but they are especially useful in times when I develop mysterious old lady problems, like the grabbing pain in my back last week, that need to be carefully stretched out to heal.

I, of course, spend time on the blog. If I’m not actively writing a post, I’m researching things to find to share with you. There are so many talented people in our world, and I’m delighted to be able to share their work with you.

I also take time to stare at my jigsaw puzzle. It’s a really good thing that I’m not feeling any pressure to get it done. I find that I’m much slower than I used to be. This “owls” puzzle is difficult, and I may die of old age before it’s finished. That’s okay, too, because I love taking a few minutes here and there to see if I can make some progress.

Last night Brian downloaded Family Tree Maker software for me. We had it for years in the states. Now I have my data attached to it again, and I can spend lots of time seeing old photos, remembering things about relatives, learning new things about people related to us, but I didn’t actually know. I find it fascinating.

In the middle of the afternoon, if I don’t contact him first, Brian texts me, asking if I’m okay and if I want him to order a coffee for me. Imagine that! Today I got a cold chocolate mocha coffee that was delivered to the condo building table downstairs. Brian texted me the order number, and I went downstairs, retrieved it, came back to my place and slurped it. What a difficut life I have!🤪

We share dinner, talk awhile, and then hit the hay because 5am the next morning comes quickly.

And that’s our new routine. I’m studying some Thai language tapes, trying to learn some very basic phrases. I will be able to learn more quickly, I hope, when we see the last hearing aid people and I get some hearing aids. (Trying to reproduce a sound when you can’t hear it accurately isn’t quite a waste of time, but close to it.)

More plans in the works as we get more details settled.

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June 14, 2025 · 8:56 pm

Jigsaw Puzzle Wisdom

This is the jigsaw puzzle I’m trying to put together currently. I have a “Puzzle Table” in my living area, just inside the front door of my condo. 😁 As a statement of my joy in creating my own space for the first time in my life, I have devoted one of the prime spots in my place to a thing I love.

Brian actually bought some cushions to tie to the wooden chair I’m using, to make it more comfortable.

Since I’m older than dirt, I’ve spent a lot of time in my life WANTING to be able to devote ANY place to a jigsaw puzzle. It got to be such a problem in my house that I put them away for a long time, just giving them up because it wasn’t important enough to cause strife. Stupid problem.

NOW, my puzzle is proudly showing most of a border now on the table. My stepping stool sits beside the table, holding the boxes of unused pieces. Since it’s been there a while, I have thought about related things lately, compiling a kind of informal list of things I’m learning as it sits…

  • The puzzle is a metaphor for life – it is what it is
  • It will sit there as long as someone gives it space – and it’s important to give mental, emotional, and physical space to things that give us pleasure.
  • It’s not how quickly the puzzle comes together – it’s the joy in the DOING – the pleasure in seeing pieces that might create something else coming together at whatever speed, creating a more pleasing picture.
  • It’s not the finishing that is important. It’s the starting of something new. Something you’ve never experienced before. It’s opening your mind and heart, expanding your horizons as it lives in your place.
  • It’s the stopping and finding a piece in life you didn’t see before that make joy burst inside.
  • It’s continuing to spend time and effort at something even when the rewards may be few that leads to character building.
  • Life is a work-in-process, a quiet building, day by day, toward the person you would like to be.
  • When the pieces don’t fit, change your perspective.

You get the point here. I’m not as a good a puzzle person as I used to be. It doesn’t matter. No one cares how long it takes me to put it together, or even if I EVER get it put together. The puzzle is not a measure of my worth – it’s a joy-filled time when I can shift focus and concentrate on something enjoyable, trivial, that might bring a smile to myr face while I spend time with it.

I hope you have what amounts to a puzzle table in your life, that it grounds you and adds something special. Enjoy each piece.

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February 7, 2024 · 9:29 am

Puzzle

keavon-chambers

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