05 December 2008

puzzling

One of my guilty pleasures, especially when it's cold and gray outside, is assembling jigsaw puzzles. I've loved them ever since I was a little girl, when I used to spend entire days hunched over hundreds, and later thousands, of tiny pieces.

Our new maple floor is ideal for puzzle assembly. Except for the fact I can't hoover until the puzzle is finished. Very difficult as I'm obsessively tidy. And perhaps this is why I like doing puzzles so much. It's essentially tidying the pieces, as this...

becomes this...

becomes this...

This puzzle was meant to the be the 'First in the New Yorker Cover Series' by Springbok but unfortunately seems to have been the only one. A real disappointment, as it's one of my favorites.

And here I admit I'm a bit of a puzzle snob. While I do make the rare exception, I generally only do Springbok puzzles. They're very well-made, with intriguingly shaped pieces and images well above the average. While a few twee cottages have crept into the range recently, I'm still managing to keep my own collection twee-free!

12 comments:

  1. I love puzzles too, as do my kids. They have some lovely wooden ones that I love love love.

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  2. Puzzles always make me feel Christmassy - well adult ones do. Puzzles with dinosaurs and alphabets and Pinocchio are an all year round event!

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  3. I love puzzles, too. I actually prefer 500 pieces to 1000 because they're more satisfying! Those are beautiful puzzles.

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  4. Jigsaws showed the fundamental difference between my creative family (start in the middle)and MrM's more disciplined family (find the corners first). It led to major disagreements when we first married.

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  5. Nice choice - vintage poster designs make for great jigsaws. Maybe you will have to make some time during the Christmas holidays to assemble some new ones ;)

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  6. We've been doing puzzles recently - mostly parrots and Find The Duck though!

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  7. We usually bring out a puzzle each year at this time. I love yours!

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  8. Doing puzzles/jigsaws is a family tradition in my household. One that completely shocked Mr M the first time he visited... poor chap.

    That one is amazing. Have you ever framed any? My uncle has this 4000 pieces number in his study and looks fab.

    (don't you just LOVE the New Yorker?)

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  9. oh I forgot to say, we are snob too, we only do Ravensburger puzzles. Must be a European thang!

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  10. I'm delighted to be picking up information about good puzzles as I read this; they are hard to find. I'll look at Ravensburger and Springbok now, thank you!

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  11. That's what we need for Christmas -- a puzzle! We always do a puzzle! Phew.

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  12. I always used to do a jigsaw at Christmas but haven't for the last few years. I think I'll get the old puzzles from the loft and do one this Christmas.

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