The Jigsaw Gallery

 

More than 18 months ago, we completed ‘Summertime‘, a Rosina Wachtmeister puzzle. ‘Never again!’, we vowed, after taking what seemed like hours (and probably actually was hours) employing a sophisticated trial-and-error system to complete the extensive areas of black that made up the puzzle’s main character, a big gold-faced cat.

Famous last words. After languishing for more than a year, framed but unglued, on top of the wardrobe in our bedroom, I eventually dismantled the puzzle, intending to reuse the frame for a poster after we finished redecorating the house. Last week we finished painting — or at least a good chunk of it — but had still not agreed on a picture we wanted to hang. And that was when we had one of our great ideas. “Let’s put that ‘Summertime’ puzzle on the wall. We’ve already got a frame, haven’t we?”

And so for the second time we set about tackling that big gold-faced cat. And no, those areas of black hadn’t gotten any easier. Here it is at last, anyway, with the blinds and the angle of the wall left in the crop, so you can see it more easily in context.

We used Puzzle Conserver to prepare the picture for framing. We flipped the picture upside down onto a large piece of card, applied adhesive to the back, covered the puzzle with a plastic/polythene decorating dust-sheet, and placed several heavy books on top. The puzzle needed two applications of conserver before it was ready (although I suppose if we’d weighted it down with books after the first application, it is possible it might have worked perfectly first time).

 

One of the Waddingtons Collectibles series, this 500-piece puzzle had lots of unusual-shaped pieces, meaning I often had to get larger areas completed before any of them would lock together securely. An excellent puzzle, which occupied me, on and off, for about three days. According to the finished picture, I am due to meet a tall dark stranger, a member of the Grenadiers, apparently, riding a horse. Jigsaws may be fun, but fortune-telling cards are, of course, complete nonsense.

Hang on. Was that hooves I heard just now?

 

One of a series of Wasgij Destiny puzzles, this one is the same as any other Wasgij in the sense that the finished picture is different from what you see on the box lid. With a Destiny puzzle, however, the completed puzzle is not a mirror image of the original, but an updated version instead. This means that the characters and setting (at least in this particular case) are the same; only the details have changed.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it? But don’t be fooled: this one took me a full week to finish, with mini breakthroughs gradually getting more regular until it was finally all done.

Sands of Time starts with a Victorian/Edwardian seaside scene. The finished pic is a modern-day version of the same. As you can imagine, beachwear is a bit different from how it used to be and a few other things have altered. In many ways, though, seaside holidays will always be the same — tawdry entertainments, screaming kids everywhere, no room anywhere to set up your deckchair, and sand in your ice-cream. Makes you want to head off to the coast right now, doesn’t it?

 

Only a 750-piece puzzle, this one, but as tough in its own way as a few 1000-piecers, mainly owing to the large number of leaves. (Now who’d've thunk an oak tree woulda had leaves on it, huh?)

I managed to identify most of the birds in the picture. The blue tit — if that’s what it is — on the left side is a bit of a mystery, though, since the blue tit doesn’t, as far as I know, have a black crown; it only has a black eye stripe. The blue tit on the right hand side is correct, as is the great tit nearby and all the other birds.

We’ve also had great fun pronouncing nuthatch as ‘new thatch’. (I know. It’s pathetic, isn’t it?) In summary, a nice colourful puzzle and a good challenge for its size. Enough said, so I think I’ll leaf it at that!