wow wow wow these are gorgeous pieces

Sounds as if you've traveled through life leaving a trail of beauty in your wake.  Excellent work.
Charlene

Charlene,
Thank you very much.    This represents many years of work - LOL, sometimes I still can't believe I was that productive!
Melanie  (known to the cat as "Rowr" or "Rowr Rowr") =^.^=

Charlene,
Thank you so much!    I'd never thought of it that way...it was just "something I did."  I love your way of looking at things!
Melanie  (known to the cat as "Rowr" or "Rowr Rowr") =^.^=

WOW!
Charlene

Marilyn,
I'm in the company of genius!  I swear, I get frustrated with 500 piece puzzles, so the Statue puzzle would probably be very difficult for me.
LOL, I hear you on "furry help."  I got some furry help on a beaded amulet bag today.  (She seemed to think the beadwork was her own personal toy.)
I know what you mean about relaxing with something non-knitting/non-reading.  (I tend to do word puzzles...I like some of the puzzle magazines.)
The wolf puzzle sounds interesting!  So does the sewing machine one.  Where do people come up with these design ideas?  I'd love to be that inventive.
Melanie  (known to the cat as "Rowr" or "Rowr Rowr") =^.^=

Marilyn,
What an outstanding eagle puzzle!
That's a great idea about the clock, too.
Ooh, the Statue of Liberty...I bet that's gorgeous!  Was it a difficult puzzle to accomplish?
Melanie  (known to the cat as "Rowr" or "Rowr Rowr") =^.^=

I've never actually glued one, but a couple of my sisters have. One sister made a clock puzzle. She glued it together, inserted clockworks, and has it hanging on the wall.
Another shaped one she has is the Statue of Liberty. It's one of those with scenes inside the shape. I put it together for her. Then we took it apart in sections so she could get it back to her house. She put it back together, glued it and has it hanging on the wall.
I just did a search and found one of those eagle-shaped puzzles I mentioned. I'm going to try putting in a link here.   http://www.puzzlewarehouse.com/Ancient-Guardian-90240so.html
Marilyn

Marilyn,
Thanks!  I checked out their Web site...I've always wanted one of those roll-up things for carrying a puzzle around...nice to know where to find one.
I saw the shaped puzzles...they're beautiful!  I'd love to buy a couple of those, and I see what you mean about the ones that are a "scene-within-a-shape."  (And they have a cat one!)
I've never glued a puzzle...is that difficult?  LOL, I take them apart carefully in sections and put them away in the box, because I've never known how to do the whole gluing-and-framing thing.
Melanie  (known to the cat as "Rowr" or "Rowr Rowr") =^.^=

I think they're maybe a little more challenging. Part of the challenge is how to display them if you decide to glue them together.  With the rectangle ones, you can buy frames to put them in to help with hanging them.   In case you're interested, one place to look for them is "Bits & Pieces".  I think they offer a free catalog.  We used to get a catalog from another place, but the name escapes me at the moment.
Marilyn

Marilyn,
No, I haven't seen those...they sound intriguing!  I'll have to check those out.  Are they supposed to be more difficult than the usual rectangular puzzles, or about the same?
Melanie  (known to the cat as "Rowr" or "Rowr Rowr") =^.^=

Speaking of scenes within shapes, have you ever seen any of the shaped jigsaw puzzles?  One that comes to mind at this moment is one with numerous lighthouses, in the shape of a lighthouse.  I think there are one or two with different scenes, in the shape of an eagle.  The photos in the puzzle catalogs make these things look really cool.
Marilyn

Marilyn,
LOL!  Actually, I like the way you said that...un-conventional is the perfect description!  There are so many cross stitch pieces that are rectangular...and they're pretty...but very ordinary.  I bought this pattern because it looked like a greeting card...the type I used to see at a store which sold gorgeous Native American themed cards...a scene-within-a-shape.  (I recall seeing one that was a whale, with a scene depicted within the whale shape.)
Melanie  (known to the cat as "Rowr" or "Rowr Rowr") =^.^=

I remember seeing a design similar to this in a catalog years ago. I remember thinking it was really neat because it's a little un-conventional. Not a sampler, or a rectangle scenic view of something.   .....Golly, I wish I was better with words. I know what I mean, but I'm not so good at saying it. ....This website might just be what I need to make me work on my vocabulary. 
Marilyn

The Statue of Liberty puzzle difficulty-- I guess it's how a person defines "difficult".  I'm not challenged very much by puzzles with less than 1,000 pieces, so I didn't find the Statue puzzle very difficult.  I didn't have a deadline, it was something to do between chores. Ya know how you sometimes want a change from knitting or reading?  That's what puzzles have been for me. I haven't worked on very many since I got married--I'm not always crazy about the furry help I get.    ...Before getting married, one of my favorite pastimes on a Sunday afternoon was working on a puzzle while listening to the re-broadcast of "Prairie Home Companion".
I just now remembered that my youngest sister had a shaped puzzle, too. It was a wolf caught mid-stride while it was running. Inside the shape were other wild animals. It was really pretty.  I don't think she glued it together, though.  I remember her talking about getting a puzzle shaped like a sewing machine, with a scene of quilts or quiltmaking inside the shape.  I don't know if she ever got it.