Home Posts tagged "water" (Page 3)

Tag: water

Puzzle: Goals

Size: 550 pieces
Dimensions: 45.72cm x 60.96cm
Producer: NSI Innovations, Motivational Classics by Successories, Inc., #32133
Notes: 

A goal is a desired result an animal, person or a system envisions, plans and commits to achieve—a personal or organizational desired end-point in some sort of assumed development. Many people endeavor to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines.

It is roughly similar to purpose or aim, the anticipated result which guides reaction, or an end, which is an object, either a physical object or an abstract object, that has intrinsic value.

Efficient goal work includes recognizing and resolving all guilt, inner conflict or limiting belief that might cause one to sabotage one’s efforts. By setting clearly defined goals, one can subsequently measure and take pride in the achievement of those goals. One can see progress in what might have seemed a long, perhaps impossible, grind. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Castle Mespelbrunn

Size: 750 pieces
Dimensions: 59.7 cm x 39.4 cm
Producer:  The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox, Photo Gallery 10 puzzle pack, #43550-26
Notes: Mespelbrunn Castle is a medieval moated castle on the territory of the town of Mespelbrunn, between Frankfurt and Wurzburg, built in a remote tributary valley of the Elsava valley, within the Spessart forest. One of the most visited water castles in Germany, it is frequently featured in tourist books.

In 1957 Mespelbrunn Castle was one of the locations of the German film Das Wirtshaus im Spessart (The Spessart Inn, 1958), based on a fairy tale by Wilhelm Hauff. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Springtime at Chambord

Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.26cm x 35.56cm
Producer:  The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox, Photo Gallery 10 puzzle pack
Notes: I have previously put together another puzzle of Chamboard Château, 1000: http://fingeringzen.com/puzzles/puzzle-chambord-chateau.

Chambord is the largest château in the Loire Valley; it was built to serve as a hunting lodge for François I, who maintained his royal residences at Château de Blois and Château d’Amboise. The original design of the Château de Chambord is attributed, though with several doubts, to Domenico da Cortona. Some authors claim that the French Renaissance architect Philibert Delorme had a considerable role in the château’s design, and others have suggested that Leonardo da Vinci may have designed it.  [Wiki]

Puzzle: Drakensberg Mountains


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73cm x 48.5cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group
Notes: The Drakensberg (“the Dragon Mountains”) is the highest mountain range in Southern Africa, rising to 3,482 metres in height. In Zulu, it is referred to as uKhahlamba (“barrier of spears”), and in Sesotho as Maluti (also spelled Maloti). Its geological history lends it a distinctive character amongst the mountain ranges of the world. Geologically, the range resembles the Simien Mountains of Ethiopia.

The mountains are capped by a layer of basalt approximately 1,400 meters thick, with sandstone lower down, resulting in a combination of steep-sided blocks and pinnacles.

The high treeless peaks of the Drakensberg (from 2,500 m upwards) have been described by the World Wildlife Fund as the Drakensberg alti-montane grasslands and woodlands ecoregion. These steep slopes are the most southerly high mountains in Africa, and being further from the equator provide cooler habitats at lower elevations than most mountain ranges on the continent. The high rainfall generates many mountain streams and rivers, including the sources of the Orange River, southern Africa’s longest, and the Tugela River. These mountains also have the world’s second-highest waterfall, the Tugela Falls (Thukela Falls), which has a total drop of 947 metres. The rivers that run from the Drakensberg are an essential resource for South Africa’s economy, providing water for the industrial provinces of Mpumalanga and Gauteng, which contains the city of Johannesburg. [Wiki]

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: 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: Horseshoe Bend, Arizona


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73cm x 48.5cm
Producer: The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox, Impressions
Notes: Horseshoe Bend is the name for a horseshoe-shaped meander of the Colorado River located near the town of Page, Arizona, in the United States. The bend is locally known as “King Bend.” It is located 8.7 km downstream from the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell within Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, about 6 km southwest of Page. [Wiki]

A horseshoe is a U-shaped item made of metal or of modern synthetic materials, nailed or glued to the hooves of horses and some other draught animals. Like a shoe on a human, it is used to protect the animal’s feet from wear and tear. Professional horseshoers, also called farriers or blacksmiths (more commonly used in the UK), attach horseshoes on the palmar surface of the hoof, usually by nailing through the insensitive hoof wall, which is anatomically similar to the human toenail, though much larger and thicker. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Iguazu Falls, Argentina


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73cm x 48.6cm
Producer: The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox, Impressions
Notes: Iguazu Falls, Iguassu Falls, or Iguaçu Falls are waterfalls of the Iguazu River located on the border of the Brazilian State of Paraná and the Argentine Province of Misiones. The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu. The Iguazu River originates near the city of Curitiba. It flows through Brazil for most of its course. Below its confluence with the San Antonio River, the Iguazu River forms the boundary between Brazil and Argentina.

The name “Iguazu” comes from the Guarani or Tupi words y, meaning “water”, and ûasú, meaning “big”. Legend has it that a god planned to marry a beautiful woman named Naipí, who fled with her mortal lover Tarobá in a canoe. In rage the god sliced the river, creating the waterfalls and condemning the lovers to an eternal fall. The first European to find the falls was the Spanish Conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca in 1541. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Boats on water by Paul Rezendes


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 40.64cm x 40.64cm
Producer:  Hasbro, MB Puzzle, Big Ben series
Artist: Paul Rezendes
“In order to capture the essence and beauty of nature, there must be an intimacy with it, not as an object, but as a process that is forever changing. The more you learn to see nature, to observe it with the quality of attention that is crucial to seeing, the more one is able to create works of art.” – Paul Rezendes from: Wetlands: The Web of Life [Paul Rezendes site]
Notes: Thanks to Hasbro, once again there is no information on the puzzle box about what place the puzzle is depicting. The only information I was able to find is the photographer’s name.

Paul Rezendes

Puzzle: Scene in Switzerland


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.5cm x 33cm
Producer: RoseArt, Encore series
Notes: Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe, where it is bordered by Germany to the north, France to the west, Italy to the south, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east.

Switzerland comprises three main linguistic and cultural regions: German, French, and Italian, to which the Romansh-speaking valleys are added. The Swiss therefore do not form a nation  in the sense of a common ethnic or linguistic identity. The strong sense of belonging to the country is founded on the common historical background, shared values (federalism, direct democracy, neutrality) and Alpine symbolism. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Villa Coastline by Ming Feng


Size: 550 pieces
Dimensions: 61cm x 46cm
Producer: Hasbro, Milton Bradley, Picture Perfect series
Artist: Ming Feng was born on June 14, 1957 in Guangzhou (formerly Canton), China. Guangzhou, known as the “Flower City,” is situated in a subtropical area surrounded by lush trees, crisscrossing rivers and babbling brooks. “Nature’s beauty stirred my longing for art and its colorfulness gave wings to my imagination. I could not help but attempt to capture its beauty on paper. Perhaps that was the burgeoning of my passion for art. I was twelve.”

In 1988, Ming immigrated to the United States with his parents and settled in New York. The diversity of art there broadened his horizon while the market offered him more opportunities to show his paintings. He lived near New England’s Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard, which today still remain his favorite places and the sources of his inspiration. [Framing Box site]
Notes: Beautiful puzzle cut with gaps being nearly invisible. Pieces fit together perfectly and there is no paper dust. A pleasure to assemble, glue, and display.

Puzzle: Plaza de Cibeles, Madrid, Spain


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73cm x 48.57cm
Producer: The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox, Classic Treasures series
Notes: The Plaza de Cibeles is a square with a neo-classical complex of marble sculptures with fountains that has become an iconic symbol for the city of Madrid.

The fountain of Cibeles is found in the part of Madrid commonly called the Paseo de Recoletos. This fountain, named after Cybele (or Ceres), Roman goddess of nature, is seen as one of Madrid’s most important symbols. The Cibeles fountain depicts the goddess, sitting on a chariot pulled by two lions. The fountain was built in the reign of Charles III and designed by Ventura Rodriguez  between 1777 and 1782. The goddess and chariot are the work of Francisco Gutierrez and the lions by Roberto Michel. The fountain originally stood next to the Buenavista Palace, and was moved to its present location in the middle of the square in the late 19th century. Up until the 19th century both the fountain of Neptune and Cibeles looked directly at each other, until the city council decided to turn them round to face towards the centre of the city. [Wiki]