Notes from Puzzle Palace : In the heart of the country

Sunday, March 5, 2023

In the heart of the country

Because we saw Perry at Tanner's house, we opted to not meet him at his house near Dallas. He very kindly sent us photos of his workshop anyway! Thank you Perry.

Our first stop after seeing Tanner was in Oklahoma to see Rob Yarger and Mark McCallum. Sorry, I know I spelled that wrong. Anyway, we drove for 6 1/2 hours to get there around 2pm. I don't know if I made a mistake on the distance, or if traffic was heavier than normal. Anyway, Rob met us in the driveway and we had a wonderful tour of his workshop. He even showed me the soap stains on the ceiling.

We went into the house and got to see Rob's puzzle collection. It is small, but very precious. Every puzzle in here was a gift from a fellow puzzler.

Mark showed us a number of puzzles he has been working on and gave us a gift of one. Rob showed us his latest project, but I'm not allowed to show it. It's a beauty though.

George spent a great deal of time working on a puzzle while the rest of us chatted.

Jenny even showed us her doll collection! OMG! I've heard of rooms like that but have never seen one. This was amazing! Totally full of dolls from floor to ceiling.

I wanted to be in Sterling Kansas by nightfall so we had to leave around 5.

Sadly, I was exhausted and we didn't make it. I stopped for the night an hour away from Rob's and passed out.

The next morning we woke up at 7 to go to our friends in Kansas. That didn't work out as I wanted it to. Of course I let George sleep in then we had breakfast, then we messed up the time and before we knew it, it was 11:30.

Rod and Merry are a couple we met on our Around The World cruise. We truly enjoyed their company and were thrilled when they said we could come and visit with them.

They have a truly beautiful old victorian house which Rod is fixing up by himself.

The price they paid for it was an absolute steal! I'm envious. Not of the location, it's too cold for me, but of the home. My photos don't do it justice.

Rob made their front door and the coffered ceiling. They have an old fashioned tin ceiling in the kitchen which he bought from a local store and installed himself. The house has a total of 23 leaded glass windows.

To do all of this work, Rod of course has to have a workshop. He humored us and took us into the basement to see it.

He also repairs clocks and has a workshop area dedicated to that hobby.

He even took us up into his attic to see his model train. This is a man who never slows down!

We went on a tour of the local area and had a few good lunches while we were there. Merry is a fantastic cook and made us two lovely dinners. Now this last part is a bit odd. I'm not a SOAP by any means, and knitting and quilting, and that other girly stuff doesn't do anything for me, but I had to add these photos of a quilting shop we went to. It is in the middle of Kansas in a town 8 miles from any other town and it is impressive!