HOLMES BEACH – Fran and Wayne Derr started working on their 111th jigsaw puzzle on Sunday, Dec. 28.
The Holmes Beach residents live in the Key Royale community and they began doing jigsaw puzzles a little more than five years ago.
“In March 2020, the states began to implement shutdowns in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which forced us to stay at home for the most part,” Fran explained. “So, to find an enjoyable way to pass away the time that we were spending in our home, Wayne and I started doing puzzles. We called it our own little Happy Hour! Most days, in the afternoons, we’d start working on a puzzle, with Wayne fixing me a margarita and himself a bourbon.”
The couple shares photos of their completed puzzles on Facebook and Fran said their friends look forward to seeing their finished works.
“Our first puzzle was posted on Facebook on June 10, 2020. It was titled ‘Beach.’ How appropriate! Here we were stuck in our homes at the beach but we could still jump in our car and leave the house and go for a walk on the beach,” Fran said. “In July 2020, we actually did five puzzles that month! Most were 500 pieces, but we managed a couple of 1,000-piece puzzles as well.
“Over the past five years of doing puzzles, we did fall in love with one puzzle, ‘Cat Close Up,’ which we had framed and is on the wall in our foyer,” Fran said.
When asked about the most difficult puzzle they’ve attempted, Fran said an old friend in Atlanta sent them a classic wooden puzzle titled “Barcelona” that was so difficult they had to give up on it.
“However, we did complete some difficult puzzles and the ‘Cat Close Up’ puzzle we had framed is one of them,” Fran said.
“COVID-19 has long passed us by, but we are still enjoying doing puzzles and posting on Facebook. This hobby and pastime of ours has made it easy for friends and relatives to give us puzzles as gifts! We are now past 110 puzzles and we are still going!” Fran said.
