I have gone back to an old hobby…. solving jigsaws. I needed something to keep my brain occupied and was getting a mite fed-up doing the same old things all the time. What same old thing was that, I hear you ask. Solving puzzles on the iPad, that’s what. I needed a challenge as well as a change of surroundings so I ordered a complicated 1000 piece jigsaw from Amazon. It took me about three weeks to complete it and I loved the challenge. I ordered some more but reduced the size to 500 pieces which I can do in two or three days.
As if they could read my mind, neighbour gave me three
jigsaws that she had just finished. Now, when I buy a jigsaw I go for
well-known makes – quality of a product is important so they probably cost a
bit more. The three I was given were of a make unknown to me and I couldn’t
wait to get started. How I wish I hadn’t bothered. The quality was appalling
and so were the shapes, and the card the puzzle was printed on was soft and
rubbishy. I tried one, sorted through for edge pieces (that’s how I do mine)
and commenced action.
The cardboard the picture was printed on was soft and
easily bent, and the shapes of each piece most peculiar. My first task was to
find all the edge pieces and soon learned that some pieces were missing! I
sorted through 500 pieces to find them but no joy. It must be me, I thought, so
I searched through the box again. No joy! Either the neighbour had lost them or
I had miscounted. I tried again. Still no luck. By this time, I had gone off
the whole idea and since I didn’t like the picture very much, I gave up.
I looked at the other two boxes and noticed that they had
not been opened. No wonder! All three puzzles were sent to a local charity shop
in the hope that they can raise a bit of cash by selling them.
We both always have a jigsaw on the go sitting on either end of the table and find the time just flies by and all worries are forgotten.
ReplyDeleteI think its important that you like the picture or type that you do. I love the WasGij puzzles and the old fashioned pictures but Tom likes anything with little people in them. We usually buy then at car boot sales and charity shops, and yes, they do sometimes have a piece missing but it doesn't stop us from enjoying them. I think they are good for the brain, lol
Briony
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Hello Briony and welcome. My brain does need help sometimes. Someone told me about the WasGij puzzles and I do intend to try them. They're a bit pricey but worth it if they're good. My trouble, not being able to get out, is having to buy from the internet. It does come pricey that way. Thanks for your advice.
ReplyDeleteHi Val. I did indeed change the layout of my blog. Sorry for the confusion. I don't want to keep away one of my favorite people. Here's a link to the new blog post if that helps, http://www.mrshife.com/2019/04/she-was-born-today.html.
ReplyDeleteKyle and I used to do puzzles all the time when he was little but he outgrew them and hasn't had much interest since then. Hayden never showed any interest so I guess I will I have to see if Ms. Frizzle wants to be my puzzle partner. Take care.
I get there okay, Matt, but thanks for the link just in case. I used to change my blog many moons ago and loved the challenge, but can't be bothered now. LOL, Ms Frizzle will definitely like playing with all the jigsaw pieces, but don't let her eat any!
DeleteI always do jigsaws and have one on the go the whole time, plus I do them online as well. There is nothing more irritating than missing pieces. I don't really care about the quality as long as the image isn't all sky and sea. I hate those kind of pictures. I tend to buy mine second hand from ebay or treat myself to a nice posh one from Amazon when they are a good price. Once they are finished, if I like them I'll put them away and do them again, if not I sell them on.
ReplyDeleteI have just finished a sea and sand jigsaw (the picture, not the pieces!!) and was almost at screaming pitch when trying to complete a sandy beach. I got there in the end but it's a lesson learned. I hadn't thought I could do them again.... silly me.
DeleteI think most puzzles are made right-handed, and I am left-handed. That's my excuse and I am sticking to it.
ReplyDeleteIt's as good an excuse as any, Joeh.
DeleteI used to do puzzles.....
ReplyDeletehave a great day
Thank you, and welcome. Puzzles were always a good hobby for me but then life took over and there was little time to indulge. Nice to get back to to it, though.
DeleteI agree with Joeh. The world is against us right hand side of the brain users: left handers. Seriously I don't have the patience. Maybe a chocolate box English thatched cottage with a cottage garden jigsaw would change my mind?
ReplyDeleteDave, if you had time on your hands you would welcome a puzzle or two. You're a busy man so it follows that puzzles wouldn't be welcome.
DeleteValerie, I can't remember the last time I put a jigsaw puzzle together but I used to LOVE doing them. My love first started when I was a kid and would spend certain days with my father's mother who had a closet FULL of puzzles. I had so fun putting them together. There was also a time when I used to put together some really nice ones and then using a puzzle glue to keep the pieces together and then frame them and hang them on the wall.
ReplyDeleteI agree, not all puzzles are created equal. Some are cheaply made and others are a bit more expensive but OH-SO much better quality.
I tend to like the puzzles that have smaller pieces rather than big. I think they look better when put together.
Have a super Sunday, my friend!
X
Good morning, Ron. I often wondered about gluing the pieces and making pictures but I was younger then. Now I'm satisfied with doing them and putting them away...for another go at another time perhaps! I do agree that smaller pieces are better.
DeleteThanks for visiting, and I hope you are keeping fit and well.
Jigsaw puzzles used to be so popular, but in recent years they seem to have vanished. I think most people are now stricken with Internet addiction. I never realized that there are poor-quality puzzles. I suppose you get what you pay for... I'm glad that you ordered some good ones.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jon. Sometimes I think we need something to get us away from internet prowling. What on earth did we do before its invention?
DeleteI can understand why you wanted to get rid of them. I try not to send dud stuff to charity shops, though, because my guess is that they never check through what they get and some other poor person will end up feeling frustrated. Pity there isn't an obvious thing to recycle old jigsaw puzzles into, isn't it - now that's a challenge for an arty crafty person!!!!
ReplyDeleteExcept for the one with a missing piece, the puzzles were fine but not to my liking, the dislike emanating from the way they were cut. I had been told by supervisor at charity shop that most puzzles they get have pieces missing. Sad!
ReplyDeleteNow that's frustrating! Someone I know bought a 1,000 piece puzzle only to find that there was one piece missing. She is very careful with her puzzles and knows she didn't misplace it anywhere. She took a picture of the puzzle, from the whole to the area it was missing from, and amazingly they sent her the missing piece in a protected envelope. I haven't done any puzzles for a long time, maybe I should as in tidying up I found two 500 piece each puzzles still in their plastic wrapper.
ReplyDeleteHope you get round to doing the puzzles one day, Denise. Currently, it is my salvation. With having nobody to talk to I can safely chat away to myself when sorting out puzzle pieces.
DeleteLove jigsaws, Val.
ReplyDeleteWe used to complete the jigsaws and dad would turn them over and we would number the pieces so we could do it a bit quicker next time . . . lol
I did that once, Eddie, but it was to redo for a picture frame. It took us ages to fill the frame but we got there in the end. It was interesting to hear the remarks of viewers, things like 'you must be mad'!!
DeleteI've never been into jigsaws. I think I'm too impatient and go for the instant satisfaction. My body might be sedentary at times but my mind is always going 100 mph so it's hard to settle into something. I'm currently enjoying a new coloring app on my device.
ReplyDeleteHi kden, I think the puzzles are helping me get through old age. I needed something to do. I admit there can be a lot of frustration but I determine to beat it. I had a go at doing a jigsaw on the device but they were very childish. I must pursue that.
DeleteValerie, I am perhaps in a small minority (not sure) who have never done a jigsaw puzzle. It wasn't something that was done in my childhood home and so maybe that's why? The local library had some set up on a table, and I did attempt to put together some pieces, but grew frustrated. And it is really bad if you get a puzzle and it's missing pieces - how frustrating, might as well toss the whole thing out.
ReplyDeleteOne missing piece won't be discovered until the puzzle is done! By then the whole (minus one) will be in place and you can see your efforts. After that t he whole lot are put back in the box. Honestly, one piece makes no difference at all to the job in hand.
DeleteHave a wonderful day.
ReplyDelete# I thought you have a new post
Saturday is my changeover day, that is Saturday UK time.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I did puzzles a lot after I gave up Scrabble cuz she beat me all the time. My specialty was the difficult edge pieces, she all the rest the middle easy parts...hmmmmm, maybe that's not exactly correct.:)
ReplyDeletehaha That's women for you! I like the edge pieces best and always set the puzzle up with an outline in place.
DeleteClick here for my latest update, Val. Hope you are well.
ReplyDelete