Jigsaws

It's many years since I last had a go at a jigsaw, in fact I can't even remember when that was. I see many people who write blogs, and on Instagram, showing the puzzles they've completed and I always think that I must have a go at one myself but it's one of those things that I just never get round to.

Until, that is, my lovely friend Lisa bought me a jigsaw as one of my Twelve Days of Christmas 2025 gifts. It was only a small puzzle, 100 pieces, but I think this was just what I needed to get me going. We had a rainy afternoon one Sunday in January and with nothing much else to do, I unboxed it and completed it in an hour or two. I loved the process and was hooked. Isn't it a pretty design, I just love all those flowers.

It wasn't long until I started on a jigsaw which Mick bought for me for Christmas 2024. This one is a Charles Dickens design with the added fun of having seventy Dickens characters to find. It's only these past few years that I've started reading Dickens' novels, I've read five of his books so I don't know all of the characters but there was an information sheet included which told you a little about each character and showed a picture of them. It was a good addition, a bit of extra fun after the last piece was fitted. This jigsaw was quite a jump from the last one as it has 1000 pieces. I was rather addicted to it actually, I couldn't wait to sit down with it each day, so it didn't take me as long to finish it as I thought it would.

Then I started on a Wasgij, this was another Christmas gift from Mick which he gave me many Christmases ago, it was definitely time to have a go at it. A Wasgij is a different type of jigsaw in that you don't assemble the picture on the box, that's just there as a clue. The scene is usually something that the characters are looking at, so as it's a bit back to front, the word jigsaw has also been turned around, hence the name Wasgij. As there's no picture to go by, it's rather challenging. Before I got to the main puzzle though, there was a free 1000 piece puzzle included in the box, this time it did resemble the shown picture so it wasn't as difficult as a normal Wasgij but it was still a bit challenging for me.

And then came the actual Wasgij which I've just finished. Again, it's a 1000 piece puzzle and this time there was no picture to go by, just a hint, 'What the vicar can see!'. This one was the most difficult of all but I enjoyed the challenge.

I think I've discovered a new hobby, in fact I'm obsessed, I could sit all day if time allowed. I've decided that I'm not going to do any more jigsaws though over the summer months, keeping this as a winter hobby, it'll give me something to look forward to when the darker evenings roll round once again.