May First Reads

 So for May, we've got mystery, domestic thriller, historical fiction, women's fiction (huh?), comtemporary romance, fantasy, family drama, and memoir, plus the children's book. 

1. Mystery - Beneath Devil's Bridge - library owns
   
2. Family drama - Like Wind Against Rock - library owns
3. Domestic thriller - the Darkest Flower - 
4. Contemporary Romance - The Checklist - library owns
   
5. Memoir - The Puma Years - could be interesting
6. Women's fiction - These Tangled Vines - sounds like as much family drama as #2
7. Fantasy - Bacchanal
8. Historical fiction - Girls in the Attic - another WWII

I went with These Tangled Vines - a little literary travel might be nice, Italy sounds good.  

Puzzle defeat

 I gave up on a puzzle this morning.  I got the edge together, and then I realized how much of a pain it was going to be.  Gorgeous art, but not worth the headache.

This is a Runlycan puzzle, a brand I'd never heard of.  Very basic box, although it did have a photo on the lid (the Anderson Design Group puzzle was in a plain box).  No puzzle dimensions inside or outside, but there was a small poster of the artwork included.  This one has an alphabet grid printed on the reverse side, which is helpful.  But the fit was so loose that even picking up two connected pieces was impossible, so the grid isn't going to help a whole lot.  And the bottom edge had a flaw in the alphabet, where multiple pieces didn't match the grid.  Not sure if pieces were swapped from another puzzle, or if there was a glitch in the printing, or what. The pieces were also very flimsy and thing. 

Adventures in Toga Making

 Toga Day is next Wednesday, so the toga-making has commenced.  I'musing the fabrics we got last year, for the Toga Day that ended up being virtual instead of in-person.  A couple of issues have popped up.  First, I bought enough fabric for a Large toga.  Someone grew over the past year and needs an Extra Large now.  Not quite enough fabric, but I'm improvising.  Then I realized that I've misplaced the first page of the pattern instructions.  The most important page, since it has the layout diagrams and the instructions on how to put this all together, which would be nice since I haven't made a toga in two years.  Best guess is that the instructions are whereever I was cutting out the parts for Britannica's helmet for Halloween 2019.  Oh well.

 

Yesterday afternoon was spent trying to figure out how to fold the fabric to get everything laid out right.  Thought I had it figured out.  Cut out the front last night, and realized my measuring was off, and the back won't fit on the remaining fabric.  Much swearing.  

This morning, I realized that the back is in two pieces, so I don't need a fold.  Still not quite enough fabric - that extra 3/8 of a yard would be nice right now.  Managed to cut one side in one piece, the other side will have a seam somewhere in the vicinity of the waistline.  Also realized, after marking the first piece, that I was using a china marker (aka grease pencil) instead of a fabric marker.  At least that piece is marked on the wrong side, and I managed to actually find the box of school chalk in the school supplies.  

Now it's down to cutting the sleeves, and hoping I can get the thing put together right.  Then there's the Greek-key ribbon for the hems, and figuring out how to finish the ends of the braided belt so they don't unravel. 

Vaccination in progress

 Missouri finally opened Covid vaccinations to everyone over 16, so I stayed up until midnight last Sunday to grab an appointment at Hyvee for today.  Oddly, this time last year I was also staying up until midnight to get a Hyvee appointment - only then, it was for curbside grocery pickup times.  Staying up late was the only way to get a time that wasn't five-days-from-now.  

So, I have dose 1 of Pfizer now.  So far no side effects other than a bit of a sore arm.  Stopped on the way home for a big tub of movie popcorn, watched the Gaelic Storm St. Patricks Day live stream this afternoon, and now I'm watching Baywatch Hawaii for fun. 

Puzzle: Eurographics Egypt

 Finished yesterday:  Eurographics, 1000-piece variable-grid cut.  This one was pretty easy, thanks to all the words.  

I believe I bought this one at the Kansas City Union Station Science Center, when the King Tut exhibit was touring about 5 years ago. 

Star Trek Voyager rewatch - Season 3, episode 1

 I've subscribed to my first Patreon, after learning that Robert Duncan McNeill (Robbie) and Garrett Wang are doing a podcast as they re-watch the series.  It's fun.  I do need to go back and listen to the first season again, so I can hear the bonus material. 

Season 3, episode 1 - Basics, Part II

What was Neelix intending to do with those bones? 

Another puzzle - Euorgraphics' vintage Canada series

 Finished this one over last week.  From the Eurographics "Vintage Canada" collection, a collage of travel posters in 1,000 pieces. 

This one is very new, just bought from Amazon.  Euro has apparently switched from random cut to grid cut, and the finish is more satin-matte than glossy now.  I've heard that the switch to grid cut is because of the increased demand for puzzles, so they're using whatever cutting dies are available.  I hope if this is true, that they switch back to random cut pieces soon.  

Notice the grid layout.

Here's the thing with a good grid-cut puzzle - all the pieces are still different.  This shows the possible piece shapes, roughly speaking.  You can have anywhere from 0 to 4 "nubs" on a piece, and a piece with 0 or 1 nub can have 2 or 4 of what I call "spades" - the little triangular bits.  

Some grid-cut puzzles have only the 2-nub shape, and hopefully there's some variation.  I've got one puzzle that I need to check, because I'm pretty sure that the pieces are all identical.  

Next puzzle:  Egyptian Treasures, another 1,000 piece Eurographics.  This is one I bought a few years ago, so it's a random cut.