Wednesday 9 March 2016

Jigsaws, Angel Delight and Nowegian Fjords.

There is something very enjoyable, therapeutic and rewarding about completing a jigsaw puzzle, a fact that I have been reminded of this weekend.


I took my Mum away for a few days over Mothers Day weekend and we stayed in a little holiday bungalow. We had a good time but the weather was very changeable; one minute we were sitting in the sun and the next sheltering from a hail storm. We were really pleased therefor to discover, when we returned to our accommodation on the Saturday afternoon, that someone had left a jigsaw puzzle in one of the wardrobes. We changed out of our wet gear, cranked the heating up to its tropical setting, made a pot of tea, opened a packet of shortbread biscuits and set about making up the jigsaw.


The jigsaw was a very traditional one, it created a picture of a floral still life with some randomly added walnuts, grapes, plums and butterflies. The colours were deep and rather different from the picture on the front of the box, which had faded somewhat, and this added to its difficulty. First we sorted the sides and corner pieces and were pleased to find that they were all there, then set about filling in the middle. I don't know why it was so enjoyable but over the next couple of days we spent many hours making up the picture and rendering the coffee table out of bounds for hot drinks.


Making a jigsaw always reminds me of being a child as then it was a treat to get a puzzle out. I remember a caravan holiday when it poured with rain so we sat in one afternoon and made a jigsaw on the dining table. If I remember rightly it was a, then ground-breaking, circular jigsaw with a picture of a bowl of red and pink roses. My Mum, Dad, sister and I leant over that little table, piecing together bits of cardboard in various shades of crimson, maroon and magenta, chatting occasionally but other wise concentrating on the emerging picture. It was a really happy day and brings back warm memories and was made even better when we had luminous yellow Batchelors Savoury Rice for our dinner, followed by rather viscous butterscotch flavoured Angel Delight, foods we never had at home.


I guess the enjoyment of jigsawing (is that a word?) comes in seeing a  picture take form in front of your eyes; from a random set of shapes you eventually create a photo of a Norwegian Fjord, a thatched cottage or a basket of kittens playing with a ball of wool. Although it's not really a competitive sport and I can't see it featuring in the Olympics any time soon, there is still a slight element of competition in seeing who can find the last corner piece, or complete the sky first, to add that bit of excitement. Whilst making up a puzzle you become focused and single minded, and although it can be frustrating when you realise that you have made a mistake on the edge pieces and you can't find where it's wrong, I'm sure it must still be good for stress relief.


Jigsaws can also be educational, I think that I learned all of my knowledge of geography from completing Jig-maps. Jig-maps, for those of you who don't remember them, were a collection of jigsaws with pictures of the continents on them, my favourite was Africa because it had pictures of animals on it. At one stage I could have accurately labeled on a map the major cities in Africa circa 1977. I'm not sure if you can still get Jig-maps but there are new additions to the types of jigsaws available including 3D puzzles, double sided ones and Wasgijs, where you don't know what picture you are trying to create. Surely all of this puzzling has got to be good for the brain although I do worry about the undocumented addictive quality of jigsaws.


So if you're suffering from stress, need to be reminded what it feels like to be a child, are unsure what to do as it's raining outside or you need to entertain a group of people with mixed ages, I can recommend putting the kettle on, changing into your comfiest clothes and getting out a jigsaw puzzle. Angel Delight is of course optional.

1 comment:

Worklesswendy said...

I recommend a trip to your local charity shop to buy a jigsaw Ray, at least you'll be supporting a charity if you don't enjoy the jigsaw.