Tag Archives: landscape

Puzzle: Mukilteo Lighthouse, Mukilteo, WA, U.S.A.


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: Big Ben, MB Puzzles
Notes: The Mukilteo Light at Mukilteo, Washington is an operational lighthouse with non-rotating fresnel lens. It originally had a revolving Fresnel lens until 1927, when it was replaced with a fixed lens. [Wiki]

In 1792, Captain George Vancouver mapped the Puget Sound area (named after Lieutenant Peter Puget), landing on the point where the light station stands today, Captain Vancouver designated the area as Rosehill Point because of the beautiful wild roses that cover the hillsides.

The lighthouse was built in 1906.

Since 1906 there have been 18 official lighthouse keepers assigned to the Mukilteo Light Station. A plaque commemorating all but the last keeper can be found on the lighthouse wall. Due to its location and amenities, the light station was considered a choice assignment that was often given to keepers as a reward for outstanding service. The keeper and his assistant maintained a constant six hour shift rotation to keep the light operational until electricity arrived in 1927. [Mukilteo Historical Society site]

Puzzle: Boscastle, Cornwall, England


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 67.31cm x 47.9cm
Producer: Milton Bradley, FoamFit series, #50653-02
Notes: Boscastle is a village and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England, in the civil parish of Forrabury and Minster. The name of the village derives from Botreaux Castle, (pronounced “But’ry”) a 12th century motte-and-bailey fortress, of which few remains survive. The castle was anciently the possession of the de Botreaux family, which became under William de Botereaux(d.1391) Barons Botreaux.

Boscastle harbour is a natural inlet protected by two stone harbour walls built in 1584 by Sir Richard Grenville (of HMS Revenge). It is the only significant harbour for 20 miles (32 km) along the coast. As well as being a fishing harbour, Boscastle was once a small port (similar to many others on the north coast of Cornwall) importing limestone and coal and exporting slate and other local produce. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Cote d’Azur, France


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73cm x 48.5cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group
Notes: The Cote d’Azur, often known in English as the French Riviera, is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend from the Italian border in the east to Saint Tropez, Hyeres or Cassis in the west.

The French Riviera coastline covers 560 miles and consists of both sand and shingle beaches. Officially, the Cote d’Azur is home to 163 nationalities with 83,962 foreign residents, although estimates of the number of non-French nationals living in the area are often much higher. Its largest city is Nice, which has a population of 347,060 (2006).

The name was given to the coast by the writer Stephen Liegeard in his book, La Cote d’azur, published in December 1887. Liegeard was born in Dijon, in the French department of Cote-d’Or, and adapted that name by substituting the azure blue colour of the Mediterranean for the gold of Cote-d’Or. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Bristlecone Pine


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73cm x 48.5cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group, Impressions series
Notes: Bristlecone pines grow in isolated groves at and just below the tree line. Because of cold temperatures, dry soils, high winds, and short growing seasons, the trees grow very slowly. The wood is very dense and resinous, and thus resistant to invasion by insects, fungi, and other potential pests.

The bristlecone pine has an intrinsically low rate of reproduction and regeneration, and it is thought that under present climatic and environmental conditions the rate of regeneration may be insufficient to sustain its population.[1] The species are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list. Bristlecone pines are protected in a number of national parks such as the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains of California and the Great Basin National Park in Nevada, where cutting or gathering wood is prohibited.

The green pine needles give the twisted branches a bottle-brush appearance. The name bristlecone pine refers to the dark purple female cones that bear incurved prickles on their surface. These ancient trees have a fittingly gnarled and stunted appearance, especially those found at high altitudes, and have reddish-brown bark with deep fissures. As the tree ages, much of its vascular cambium layer may die. In very old specimens, often only a narrow strip of living tissue connects the roots to a handful of live branches. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Old Homestead, Indiana


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.26cm x 35.56cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group
Notes: Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as in 1816. It is located in the midwestern and Great Lakes regions of North America. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis, the second largest of any state capital and largest state capital east of the Mississippi River.

Indiana is one of the most tornado-prone states in the country, ranking sixth in a list by VorTek, an Alabama company. The city of South Bend was ranked the 14th most tornado-prone city in the country, ahead of cities such as Houston and Wichita. The same company also published a list of the most tornado prone cities and states in April, with Indiana coming in first and South Bend ranking 16th. Despite its vulnerability, Indiana is not a part of tornado alley. [Wiki]

Tornado Alley is a colloquial and popular media term that most often refers to the area of the United States where tornadoes are most frequent. Although an official location is not defined, the area between the Rocky Mountains and Appalachian Mountains is usually associated with it. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Brighton, East Sussex, England


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: Big Ben, MB Puzzles
Notes: In the mid 1780s George, Prince of Wales, rented a small farmhouse overlooking a fashionable promenade in Brighton.  Brighton was developing from a decayed fishing town to an established seaside retreat for the rich and famous, being close to London. George IV’s original farmhouse had little land attached to it. As his financial position improved he was able to purchase parcels of land surrounding the palace to create the estate we see today. John Nash transformed Henry Holland’s modest Marine Pavilion into an Indian-style palace. The grand central dome was balanced by the sweeping tent roofs of the Music Room and the Banqueting Room, and a forest of small domes, minarets, pinnacles and chimneystacks. The rendered surfaces of the Royal Pavilion were painted in imitation of stone to match real stone details, creating a unified vision of a building made of Bath stone.

The Royal Pavilion gardens were designed by John Nash as a picturesque pleasure ground for the king. The garden designs reflect the revolution in landscape gardening that had begun in the 1730s. Straight lines and symmetrical shapes were replaced with curving paths, natural groups of trees and shrubs and picturesque views. Planting began in 1816 (at the same time as John Nash’s remodelling of the Marine Pavilion) and was completed by the early 1820s. It provided an attractive, shady sanctuary on a hot summer’s day. [Royal Pavilion, Museums, and Libraries site]

Puzzle: Presumably Venice


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 43.18cm x 48.9cm
Producer: Hasbro, MB Puzzle
Notes: Venice is built on an archipelago of 117 islands formed by 177 canals in a shallow lagoon, connected by 409 bridges.[38] In the old centre, the canals serve the function of roads, and almost every form of transport is on water or on foot. In the 19th century a causeway to the mainland brought the Venezia Santa Lucia railway station to Venice, and the Ponte della Liberta road causeway and parking facilities were built during the twentieth century. Beyond the road/rail land entrances at the northern edge of the city, transportation within the city remains (as it was in centuries past) entirely on water or on foot. Venice is Europe’s largest urban car-free area. Venice is unique in Europe, in having remained a sizable functioning city in the twenty-first century entirely without motorcars or trucks.

The classical Venetian boat is the gondola, although it is now mostly used for tourists, or for weddings, funerals, or other ceremonies. Many gondolas are lushly appointed with crushed velvet seats and Persian rugs. Less well-known is the smaller sandolo. The main transportation means are motorised waterbuses (vaporetti), which ply regular routes along the major canals and between the city’s islands, and private boats. The only gondolas still in common use by Venetians are the traghetti, foot passenger ferries crossing the Grand Canal at certain points without bridges. [Wiki]

Puzzle: European Riverbank


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.26cm x 35.56cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group, Impressions series
Notes: Hundreds of rivers and their tributaries cross the European continent. WorldAtlas highlights those over 600 miles in length, and a few others of note.

A riverbank or stream-bank: the terrain alongside the bed of a river, creek, or stream. [Wiki]

Click on a name of the river to trace its passage through Europe and see statistical information about it on the EurAtlas site.

Puzzle: Taj Mahal, India


Size: 750 pieces
Dimensions: 59.69cm x 39.37cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group, images series, #43570-13
Notes: The Taj Mahal was constructed using materials from all over India and Asia and over 1,000 elephants were used to transport building materials. The translucent white marble was brought from Makrana, Rajasthan, the jasper from Punjab, jade and crystal from China. The turquoise was from Tibet and the Lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, while the sapphire came from Sri Lanka and the carnelian from Arabia. In all, twenty eight types of precious and semi-precious stones were inlaid into the white marble.

A labour force of twenty thousand workers was recruited across northern India. Sculptors from Bukhara, calligraphers from Syria and Persia, inlayers from southern India, stonecutters from Baluchistan, a specialist in building turrets, another who carved only marble flowers were part of the thirty-seven men who formed the creative unit. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Havasu Falls, Grand Canyon, U.S.A.


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.26cm x 35.56cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group, images series
Notes: A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.

Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens slowly, while downstream the erosion occurs more rapidly. As the watercourse increases its velocity at the edge of the waterfall, it plucks material from the riverbed. Whirlpools created in the turbulence as well as sand and stones carried by the watercourse increase the erosion capacity. This causes the waterfall to carve deeper into the bed and to recede upstream. Often over time, the waterfall will recede back to form a canyon or gorge downstream as it recedes upstream, and it will carve deeper into the ridge above it. The rate of retreat for a waterfall can be as high as one and half meters per year. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Bickleigh, Devon, England


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: MB Puzzles, Big Ben
Notes: Bickleigh is a village and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon, England, about four miles south of Tiverton. It is in the former hundred of Hayridge. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 239. It should not be confused with Bickleigh, a village near Plymouth, also in Devon.

The village lies in the valley of the River Exe at the point where it meets the much smaller River Dart. There is an attractive medieval stone bridge across the Exe. The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Bichelei, meaning “Bicca’s meadow”. [Wiki]

Puzzle: St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Ireland


Size: 500 pieces
Notes: I brought this puzzle with me from Ireland in 2008. I do not have a record of the producer of the puzzle as I do not have the box anymore. A clarification is welcome – if you have any clue as to the details regarding this puzzle, I would much appreciate that information.

Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, or more formally, the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Patrick, is a cathedral of the Church of Ireland in Dublin, Ireland which was founded in 1191. The Church has designated it as The National Cathedral of Ireland. It is the larger of the Church’s two cathedrals in the city and is the largest church in Ireland with a 43 metre spire. [Wiki]

Built in honour of Ireland’s patron saint, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral stands adjacent to the famous well where tradition has it Saint Patrick baptized converts on his visit to Dublin.

The parish church of Saint Patrick on this site was granted collegiate status in 1191, and raised to cathedral status in 1224. The present building dates from 1220. The Cathedral is today the National Cathedral of the Church of Ireland (a church of the Anglican communion). [Saint Patrick’s Cathedral site]

Puzzle: Rock of Cashel, Ireland


Size: 500 pieces
Notes: I brought this puzzle with me from Ireland in 2008. I do not have a record of the producer of the puzzle as I do not have the box anymore. A clarification is welcome – if you have any clue as to the details regarding this puzzle, I would much appreciate that information.

The Rock of Cashel (Irish: Carraig Phádraig), also known as Cashel of the Kings and St. Patrick’s Rock, is a historic site in Ireland’s province of Munster, located at Cashel, South Tipperary.

The Rock of Cashel was the traditional seat of the kings of Munster for several hundred years prior to the Norman invasion. Few remnants of the early structures survive; the majority of buildings on the current site date from the 12th and 13th centuries. Cashel is reputed to be the site of the conversion of the King of Munster by St. Patrick in the 5th century. The picturesque complex has a character of its own and is one of the most remarkable collections of Celtic art and medieval architecture to be found anywhere in Europe.

According to local mythology, the Rock of Cashel originated in the Devil’s Bit, a mountain 20 miles(30 km) north of Cashel when St. Patrick banished Satan from a cave, resulting in the Rock’s landing in Cashel. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Ray of Light by Jim Zuckerman


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73cm x 48.5cm
Producer: Sure-Lox
Artist: Jim Zuckerman – Jim has been a contributing editor to Photographic Magazine for 3 1/2 decades. His images, articles, and photo features have been published in scores of books and magazines including Time-Life books, publications of the National Geographic Society, Outdoor Photographer, Life Magazine, Omni Magazine, Conde Nast Traveler, Shutterbug, Science Fiction Age, National Wildlife and Opticon, a prestigious photo magazine in Greece. He is the author of 14 books on photography, and he now teaches many on-line courses. [Jim Zuckerman’s site]

Puzzle: Port of Nyhavn, Copenhagen, Denmark


Size: 1000 pieces
Producer: Puzzle World
Notes: Nyhavn is a 17th century waterfront, canal and entertainment district in Copenhagen, Denmark. Stretching from Kongens Nytorv to the harbour front just south of the Royal Playhouse, it is lined by brightly coloured 17th and early 18th century townhouses and bars, cafes and restaurants. Serving as a “heritage harbour”, the canal has many historical wooden ships.

Nyhavn was constructed by King Christian V from 1670-73, dug by Swedish war prisoners from the Dano-Swedish War 1658–1660. It is a gateway from the sea to the old inner city at Kongens Nytorv (King’s Square), where ships handled cargo and fishermens’ catch. It was notorious for beer, sailors, and prostitution. Danish author Hans Christian Andersen lived at Nyhavn 18 for some years. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Canadian Pacific Railroad, Alberta, Canada


Size: 500 pieces, 1 missing
Dimensions: 45cm x 35cm
Producer: Leap Year
Notes: The railway was originally built between eastern Canada and British Columbia between 1881 and 1885, (connecting with Ottawa Valley and Georgian Bay area lines built earlier), fulfilling a promise extended to British Columbia when it entered Confederation in 1871. It was Canada’s first transcontinental railway, but currently does not reach the Atlantic coast. Primarily a freight railway, the CPR was for decades the only practical means of long-distance passenger transport in most regions of Canada, and was instrumental in the settlement and development of Western Canada. The CP became one of the largest and most powerful companies in Canada, a position it held as late as 1975. Its primary passenger services were eliminated in 1986, after being assumed by Via Rail Canada in 1978. A beaver was chosen as the railway’s logo because it is one of the national symbols of Canada and represents the hardworking character of the company. The object of both praise and condemnation for over 120 years, the CPR remains an indisputable icon of Canadian nationalism. [Wiki]

Puzzle: San Xavier Mission, Arizona


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.26 cm x 35.56 cm
Producer: The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox, Impressions series
Notes: Mission San Xavier del Bac is a historic Spanish Catholic mission located about 16 km south of downtown Tucson, Arizona, on the Tohono O’odham San Xavier Indian Reservation. Named for a pioneering Christian missionary and co-founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuit Order), the Mission is also known as the “place where the water appears,” as there were once natural springs in the area. The Santa Cruz River which now runs only part of the year is also nearby. The Mission is situated in the center of a centuries-old Indian settlement of the Tohono O’odham (formerly known as Papago), located along the banks of the Santa Cruz River. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Crash Course in Italian by Thomas Barbèy


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 59.7 cm x 39.4 cm
Producer: TreeToys, 2004, Puzzle Art series
Artist: Thomas Barbèy
Original: print
Notes:  Every single one of my images has to pass what I like to call the “So what?” test. If a combination of two or more negatives put together doesn’t touch me or have any particular meaning, I throw it out. I try to combine images and sometimes the results can be disappointing. A giant clock in the middle of the ocean can be an unusual image but if I look at it and say to myself, “So waht?” This means it isn’t good enough. If instead, an ocean liner is going down a “funnel-type” hole and I entitle it “shortcut to China,” it takes on a whole new meaning. The picture takes you into an imaginary world where you can see the captain telling the passengers to fasten their safety belts to get prepared for the descent.
At times I come up with ideas beforehand, try to materialize them and it works. At other times, it is an accident and the ideas come afterwards, when the image is already finished and the concept has yet to be understood. It is almost as if I am learning constantly through the process of creation. I travel a lot to take photographs of different things and places. Sometimes I use an image several years later, but only when it fits, like the perfect piece in a puzzle, and completes my latest project. Some images are composed of negatives that are separated by a decade in the actual time that I had taken them and only come to life when they found their perfect match. it’s the combination of two or more negatives that they give birth to a completely unsual vision, but most of all, the title I give the final image is the glue and the substance of the piece. [Thomas Barbèy]

Puzzle: The Great Wall, China


Size: 750 pieces
Dimensions: 59.7 cm x 39.4 cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, Impressions
Notes:  The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups. Several walls have been built since the 5th century BC that are referred to collectively as the Great Wall, which has been rebuilt and maintained from the 5th century BC through the 16th century. One of the most famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. Little of that wall remains; the majority of the existing wall was built during the Ming Dynasty.

The Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east, to Lop Lake in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. The most comprehensive archaeological survey, using advanced technologies, has concluded that all the walls measure 8,851.8 km. This is made up of 6,259.6 km sections of actual wall, 359.7 km of trenches and 2,232.5 km of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Santorini, Greece


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.26cm x 35.56cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, Land Marks series
Notes: The traditional architecture of Santorini is similar to that of the other Cyclades, with low-lying cubical houses, made of local stone and whitewashed or limewashed with various volcanic ashes used as colors. The unique characteristic is the common utilisation of the hypóskapha: extensions of houses dug sideways or downwards into the surrounding pumice. These rooms are prized because of the high insulation provided by the air-filled pumice, and are used as living quarters of unique coolness in the summer and warmth in the winter, and also as premium storage space for produce and especially for wine cellaring: the Kánava wineries of Santorini. [Wiki]