28 Years

 Today, at 11am, I have been in New Zealand for 28 years.

I wouldn't change any of it 💖

Jigsaw #5 - Narrow Boat Adventures

 I got this one from Facebook Market place, and it is one that I loved the moment I saw it, so it didn't bother me that it was in a town 90 mins drive away. I don't normally purchase ones that far away as crazy stupid to drive and spend petrol on a jigsaw.

Luckily, I needed to go look at shops over in the town, still trying to find a Mother of the Groom dress for the upcoming wedding and also needed a day out with a friend. So, we took our time and had a fun day in the sun dress shopping and collecting a jigsaw.

I loved completing this one, but it was very easy. Once you had sorted out the boat pieces, the water and the ducks it just fell into place. Therefore, it only took me less than 24 hours from start to finish!

Jigsaw #4 - Birdwatchers View

 A simple one that was a delight to put together, however, it is summer here and there has been other things to focus on, so that is why there was a gap between this one and the last completed one. I am aiming to still achieve 52 or more jigsaws this year. I just know that in the winter months there will be plenty of indoor evening time to plow through jigsaws faster than in the summer.

I actually have another from this series, so look forward to completing it at some stage.

Jigsaw #3 - Mini Houses

 As you know, I bought a jigsaw off of Temu. Wrote a post about it here, all because it turned out to be a micro mini one!

Well, I finally got round to completing it. And let me tell you, it was a wee struggle, but I did eventually achieve it.

I may have slightly cheated, the best you can on a jigsaw puzzle! That is because the back of the jigsaw pieces had a letter on them and therefore, the letters corresponded to a section. Collect all the letters together and then you had the square to put together.

So, whilst I did complete the jigsaw, I completed it in a slightly different way. I sorted all the letters into groups and then put the pieces for that section together. Once it was sorted into the smaller piles, it came together really easily, even despite the size of the pieces!

It hasn't put me off of buying more from Temu, in fact I have purchased another one, I will just be more mindful of the size they quote and work out how big I think it will be.

Jigsaw #2 - The Four Seasons

 And within a week I have completed the next one, and this one is even 2000 pieces. Amazing what you can do when on holiday from work and taking time to relax.

This jigsaw I have had for a while, but like the start of last year, I didn't have a board big enough to complete it on. I had established over a year ago or more that this one would not fit on my felted board, so I stored all the sorted pieces in little bags and put the jigsaw away.

Fast forward to now, when I have finally come up with a solution and here, we go.

The easiest way I could think to complete this one was to sort the pieces by season. There were some distinct colours for each season, so it was not difficult. Although it was not fool proof and I was left with a box of pieces that could have gone absolutely anywhere. So, I did each season first and then filled in the gaps as I understood the picture.

It was fun to do, a steady piece of work that was done by either doing a large session sat with it or putting in a few pieces whenever I walked past. The old, find 10 pieces and have to put them in before I can leave. I find that makes it fun to do a small handful of pieces and then walk away.

Jigsaw #1 - Disney

 And the year has started. I finished my last jigsaw on 28 December and so, after deciding which one to complete next, sorting the pieces and then, in between activities and family, I have finally finished the first one of the year.

A really cute but slightly difficult and frustrating Disney one.

The top and bottom border were almost the death of me! The pieces were almost identical and getting the right shape together so that it went together correctly, was annoying. I think I undid it several times and at the end I had to redo the border to get it right!

It was a fun one to do, even if there were moments, but who can resist Disney and all my childhood characters.

2025 Jigsaw Update

 And just like that the year is ending.

I completed 32 jigsaws this past year, quite impressive considering I don't just sit around and do them all the time. They are my evening hobby and even then, sometimes it can be a few weeks between completing them.

There definitely was a conscious effort to complete a lot this year and that will roll into 2026 when I will be aiming to beat my annual total.

As mentioned in my posts, the jigsaws come from gifts, swapped, purchased brand new myself (usually always on sale), bought on Facebook marketplace or even loaned from a friend.

This next year, I need to complete some harder ones, ones that will challenge me a little more, push me out of my comfort zone. I have found some of them too easy. The colours are too simple to put together, the shapes are too easy to find. More detail leads to easier to complete. So, whilst there will be some that have a cute picture or fun design that I will complete because I want to enjoy them, I will be looking at larger more challenging ones that will take a little longer and challenge me more to complete.

I don't really have one that I hated doing this year, but I had two that were frustrating, and they both happened to be circular in shape!

The Floral Compass and Butterfly, although, reading back on the post I wrote about the Butterfly, I cursed more completing that one than any other, so guess that one was my worst to complete.

I don't have a particular one that was the best to complete, they were all fun and no one particularly stood out for me.

Onwards and upwards for 2026 and to see if I can beat 32 😊