Being a Yorkshireman, I am as tight as a duck's arse as we say in these parts. I was very reluctant to buy a new jigsaw. Couldn't I just purchase a secondhand one cheaply from a charity shop? Another determining point was this - the jigsaw image needed to be one that I wanted to work on as I knew it would take me hours to do. Google Gemini suggests that it takes between twelve and twenty hours for a "beginner" to complete a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle.
In the middle of May, I was in the local "British Heart Foundation" charity shop looking for branded "Old Fella" clothes when I spotted a jigsaw I knew I would like. It only cost £3 and the image was of a lovely village on the North Yorkshire coast that is familiar to me - Staithes just north of Whitby. "Yes!" I said to myself, "that's just the job!"
Anyway, a week later, I began. After what seemed like twelve to twenty hours I had almost completed the outer frame after sifting out all of the pieces with straight edges. I was making progress and then something happened.
The best Yorkshire summer on record broke out and I did not want to pass my time indoors working on a jigsaw. I wanted to be out doing summery things like surfing, attending musical festivals and running naked through forests. So the jigsaw was "put on hold" until normal British weather resumed. Staithes could wait.
Then ten days ago, I went back to the jigsaw. This time I set up a table in the front bedroom - right next to the window where daylight would make the task easier.
In several sessions, I made steady progress though some gaps were hard to fill because mischievous pieces were hiding in plain sight. Doing that jigsaw was a practical challenge and gradually the finishing line came close. Of course, I always knew that there was a real possibility that not all one thousand pieces would be present and sure enough, as the last pieces were pressed home, it became clear that two pieces were missing.
I didn't know how I would feel about that. Would I rage in my "Old Fella" nightgown and toss an incomplete Staithes up in the air or would I calmly accept the reality? I am pleased to report that I was cool about the two missing pieces. It was okay.
However, the next time I decide to do a jigsaw it will be a new one and I will do it in the front bedroom in natural light - hopefully when it's grey outside and drizzle is steadily drizzling. But that won't be any time soon. I am jigsawed out right now.
from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/hdNzPYy
