My current obsession - jigsaw puzzles

Recently I read this quote - "A puzzle won't solve all of your problems, but a puzzle is a problem you can solve" - attributed to Rachel Miller. It helped to explain why I've spent the last few weeks obsessed with doing jigsaw puzzles, it's a brilliant way to calm my mind and to feel that I'm keeping things in order.

I go through phases with my jigsaws, sometimes I'll be working on one after another after another, and then I'll put away my jigsaw board for months at a time. Recently I've been doing some book shopping in charity shops, and I decided to try my luck with buying some jigsaws, deciding to make peace with the fact that they may not be complete. 

Although the local charity shops do stock plenty of jigsaws, I'm quite fussy about what I like. I prefer a modern illustrative image rather than a photo, and I'm not keen on the cutesy, nostalgic scenes that seem to make up most of the offering. For my first purchase I was delighted to find this New York street scene jigsaw, and when I found that it was in good condition with no missing pieces I went searching for some more!

It took a bit of browsing, but I came home with a small haul. I couldn't resist starting with this Lego Minifigures jigsaw which wasn't nearly as difficult as I was expecting. It was really fun to put together and not that difficult at all - I loved all the different figures. It was a nice alternative to all the actual Lego that I've been building recently to sell on Ebay!

Lego - Minifigure Puzzle

This jigsaw with an illustration of nostalgic toys is as far into the nostalgia theme as I'm prepared to go! It was a sweet collection of different childhood toys, one of those puzzles that you can't really sort into sections you just have to lay out all the pieces and hunt for them a few at a time.

Gibsons - Space Hoppers & Scooters

This puzzle from Ravensburger I borrowed from my Mum, I suspect it was another charity shop purchase as the edge pieces were neatly sorted into a little sandwich bag inside! I don't mind that at all, it saves me a job and it also suggests that the previous puzzler cared about making sure that all the pieces were present. I think that Ravensburger is my favourite jigsaw manufacturer when it comes to the shape and fit of the pieces, and this one was a lot easier than it looked!

Ravensburger - The Artist's Desk

Finally I'm currently working on the last puzzle in my stash, another Ravensburger called The Fantasy Bookshop. I've been admiring this one for a while online, so I was really pleased to spot it for just a few pounds. It's quite a tricky one because there are lots of similar looking pieces, but it's coming together nicely. I'm really enjoying making the most of our extension and working on my puzzles in the sunshine under our beautiful lantern roof.

Now that I've reached the end of my pile I think it's time to do some more shopping, and this time I might see if I can find one with a few more pieces than my usual 1000 - maybe then I won't be getting through them quite as quickly!