Jigsaws

For a long time now my days have consisted of little bits of things. A bit of craft, a short walk, some simple cooking. If I do too much of anything, I feel more ill and have to lie down.  I've been doing a ten minute walk each day this year which doesn't sound much but it wipes me out. My fatigue has got much worse and now I've lost my taste again (it had only just started to come back). So ... I have to cut down the walks to see if that helps. Honestly, it takes me longer to put my shoes and coat on and take them off again than it does to do the actual walk.

Ah well, such is life. One of the things I've been enjoying for the past month or so is doing jigsaw puzzles. I do about twenty minutes a day and progress is slow but the sense of achievement at finally finishing one is huge. My son and I started this 1,000 piece one over Christmas and, weeks later, I finally finished it.

The finished puzzle is always a surprise to me. I don't look at the picture on the lid while I'm doing it and I never know what the bit I'm working on is going to be. The rest of the family will be saying "you're doing the tree / girl / whatever" but I'll just be looking at the colours and shapes. I only discover all the details once the puzzle is finished.

After this one I got out my new Wentworth puzzle. For those of you that don't know them, Wentworth make traditional wooden jigsaws with strange shaped pieces which are hard to do but very satisfying. This is my latest one.

It's called 'Starry River' and is by the artist Lisa Graa Jensen whose work I discovered by buying an earlier jigsaw of another one of her paintings. I think I may have to buy one of her prints to frame - if I can choose just one.

As you can see, this is a 250 piece puzzle. That doesn't sound much but, in terms of difficulty, it's about the same as a normal 500 piece jigsaw. The other exciting thing about these puzzles is that they all have a number of 'whimsies', shaped pieces that fit in with the theme of the picture. With this one there were lots of woodland birds and animals.

And here it is finished with all the whimsies in place.

Today I've started a new 1,000 piece jigsaw that a friend gave me for Christmas. It's of a quilt shop so very appropriate for me.

Lots of colours and patterns there. Today I managed to sort out the edge pieces and put a few together.

It's a start ...