Patti, that looks like such a neat puzzle. I'm sorry that you were missing pieces though. I really love putting puzzles together, but now with 4 cats, I can't do it anymore. I've tried the mat that you roll the puzzle up, but that doesn't work at all. and i've tried laying a sheet over the puzzle when I'm not working on it and weighting it down iwth a few things, but the darn cats still manage to jump on it and make pieces fly everywhere. A few Christmases ago, my mom got me the neatest mickey mouse mosaic puzzle and I've tried to start it, but the cats destroy it everyt time. So it is sitting in my closet. I wanted to put it together and glue it so bad. It would have looked so neat to hang up. Hope they send you a new puzzle soon. Hugs, Tammy

Oh my goodness it worked!! This is a puzzle by artist Tom duBois called "The Commission." We did this last month. We liked it so much that my husband glued it together & made a frame for it. We had not done a puzzle in awhile, we enjoyed working on it- but it was difficult. But we got it!

My friend was giving away a puzzle of the United States and there are 50 pieces. I asked her if I could have it because it's a pretty good idea to test myself on what is above Colorado and so on. Every once in a while I get it out and do it again or give it to a friend. I can also compete with somebody and time ourselves. These were the kinds of games we played at the beach including those puzzles you showed. Now days you can have a puzzle made of a lot of different pictures. . For instance there is a picture of a scene in the Masterpiece Series Mr. Selfridge I'm going to have made into a puzzle because I love the PBS program and I love the fact that the department store still exists in London..The picture is of the perfume department.

If you haven't totally lost patience with me yet, I did some doodling around this weekend and came up with this, which I'm calling "anchored island." (Ha!) Strengths of this one: 1. Ample counter space, including 2 prep areas. I don't think the second sink is necessary, but I put it in there as an idea. I don't use the sink a huge amount when prepping, typically. 2. Bar seating that is attached to the dining room. 3. Space for 2 cooks. 4. Adequate (48" plus) aisles. 5. Keeps wall ovens (not required, but preferred). Weaknesses: 1. Refrigerator position, particularly in relation to the bay window and the dishwasher. That's potentially a bit of a traffic jam. I put in a counter-depth fridge, but I would be willing to consider a built-in if that would make a workable plan. 2. Still a relatively small prep area between the main sink and the stove. I do think the proximity of the "island" to the refrigerator and cooktop helps alleviate that. Cooking prep could be done on the main cabinet wall, while secondary prep (salads, etc.) could be done on the "island."