I forgot ... this is fun!

Ever have a hobby that you set aside ... set aside for years ... and then, because you have a slight injury  and extra time ... you pick it up again on a whim ... and remember just how much FUN it is!!  Forgotten and challenging fun with a few surprises thrown in.

That is me and Legos.  Yep!  Legos ... the building blocks of children. 

But hasn’t been for just children for a long time.  Not by a long shot!  Not by size, or by complexity or by cost!  Especially not by cost - because the kits for adults (those over 16) are quite expensive, and only get more expensive when Lego retires certain kits. 

More than 5 years ago I built my first pair of buildings.  The Pet Store and a Private Townhouse Residence.

This was my first build. And I discovered when I was searching for these pictures in my blog history
that I built them in 2015!  My heavens.  So it has been more like 7 years.  Time has passed so fast.

And these were my first surprises.  I was building the basement level of the townhouse and
following the directions so very carefully ... I began constructing some of the interior pieces - without knowing what they were.  Imagine my surprise and amusement when I discovered they were a telephone and a toilet!  I was building a TOILET!!  So darn cute.

Anyway, now that I have set my knitting needles and crochet hooks aside, I looked for ways to fill that time and not stress out my digits.  Thankfully, over the years since that first build, I have requested a number of lego kits for gifts.  I must have 5 or 6 waiting.  

The time to begin building again is PERFECT!

The kit I am working on now is The Detective Agency - The Pool Hall - Al’s Barber Shop with another residence squeezed in-between!  This is the picture off the box.

For those who aren’t aware of how the construction is approached,  I thought I would share some of my methods.

All the pieces come in separate bags like pictured above.  The bags are numbered 1 to 4.  Each number is the sequence they suggest you make the kit in. I made this shot above bigger so you can get the feel and logic of the sorting.  First off, all the bags marked with a #1 have already been constructed into the first floor of the Pool Hall. 

Front of the pool hall.  If you look through the glass doors you can 
just see a bit of the pool table.

Looking down from the top you can see the ceiling fan I built (put a smile on my face
when I figured that out) and below that is the pool table.

Here is a better shot of the pool table before the walls went up.

Now I am preparing to do all the bags marked #2.  Beyond the fact they have gathered all the pieces together that  I need all for the next section in these #2 bags, I can see no logic to the pieces as they are packaged.  All 4 bags are a mix of shapes, sizes and colors.  So I had to come up with my own logic for sorting.

I simply sort by color.

Lego’s instruction book is also a marvel.  No words.  Just each step pictured, starting with the exact pieces you need next.  You then compare your previous work to the picture in the book and use those pieces you pulled to build your room one baby step at a time.

Literally - no words. Really very international.  Legos
can sell their kits all over the world without worrying
about translations.  Genius.

When this kit is complete it will be placed beside my first one in a plastic demonstration case to keep the dust off.  I will continue building my little town one set of buildings at a time.

One final note.  I have never ever had a piece missing.  How they manage to manufacture and package this as they do would be a very interesting documentary to see.  But in the back of the instruction book is a listing of all the pieces used - with a picture of the piece in the color used and its number.  It shouldn’t be too hard to get a replacement.