Tray bon

Now that I feel up to reading more intently, I’ve been puzzling less. Still, I’m a member in good standing of the Hoefnagel Wooden Puzzle Club (which has a very large and varied library, mostly Artifact, but with some jigsaws from Liberty, Peaceful, and assorted handcutters); still getting a new Liberty whenever my number comes up (every two months or so), and a new Artifact when a really pretty one, like “The Unicorn in Captivity,” comes back into print. I’ve done over 23,000 pieces since May.

Strangely enough, despite all that practice, I’ve never found a truly comfortable set up.

Having started in a tucked-away underbed drawer (cats, child), I quickly acquired a big puzzle board with a parapet and sorting drawers; then another, as the antlered Hunt and the Map of Florence wouldn’t fit on just one. And the thing about a board on a table is that it takes up the whole damned table, and you’re either standing and stooping or sitting and craning. The light on mine isn’t optimal either.

I’ve thought of all sort of solutions. An architect’s chair? A coffee table? Expensive, uncertain, and the goddesses know I don’t need more furniture in here. Stacking books underneath the board, to bring it up under my short-sighted nose? Precarious. As for the light, this sort of work needs a flood not a spot. You don't want that piece you're looking for to be in the penumbra. A new standard lamp? See above, under expense, overcrowding. Or I could rearrange the entire room to bring the table under an overhead and closer to the window? No way. Besides, that does nothing for the ergonomics.

The way I really like to do close work–like writing, drawing, sewing, puzzling—is on my lap. So I’ve taken to doing sections of puzzles in the sorting drawers, in my nice comfy well-lighted armchair. A few puzzles are small enough to fit inside a drawer; others will only just fit on the flip side of a drawer, in imminent danger of sliding off and losing pieces. Anything larger, I have to do as patchwork, bringing finished sections to the board and transferring them: an awkward, fiddly, risky process. Puzzle crumbles worse than piecrust. Lillian Gilbreth would have had a conniption.

I thought of and rejected those bed tables with fold-down legs: they’re not quite big enough for the puzzles in my queue, and can’t be turned portrait.  The puzzle boards with legs I've seen tend to be spindly and overpriced, and too wide for my chair.

Then on Saturday, I discovered Ottoman Trays. Doesn’t that sound impressive? The chichi ones in rare woods are quite popular on wedding registries. I got one in bamboo: very light, very pretty, and twice the size of the sorting drawers. It came on Monday, and it’s brilliant! It fits on my knees, with a corner resting on—of course—my ottoman. I can turn it easily to any angle. And most puzzles that I do—not all—will fit entirely within it.





Two puzzles, two days. Whee!

Nine