I love to get my teeth stuck into a good jigsaw puzzle, and Santa Claus was kind enough to leave me a new one in my stocking, so I started it yesterday. It's a 1000 piece puzzle with a picture of some lovely Shire horses. My girlfriend reluctantly decided to help me do the puzzle, so I gave her the task of putting all the blue pieces together and finding the corner pieces. Our teamwork had paid off, as we could see the picture taking shape in no time at all, until we hit a glitch. We spent an hour and a half looking for a bit with 3 innies, and an outie that was mainly blue with a red bit at the top. It eventually turned up, and we breathed a big sigh of relief and completed the jigsaw.

When I complete a jigsaw I get a feeling of satisfaction, that does not last very long, then I break it up and put it back in the box. I'm contemplating starting a 5000 piece puzzle of some kittens in a pint mug, but I don't know if I have the room or patience to start it.

All in all, Hamleys make a good quality jigsaw puzzle printed on re-cycled card, with many different scenes to choose from, providing many happy hours of enjoyment for the whole family. Hamleys jigsaws, like all other jigsaws, are suitable for boys, girls, men, women, old and young alike.

I counted the pieces of the Shire horse puzzle, and I counted 1006 pieces, so I counted them three or four times, and each time I came up with the same number. My girlfriend pointed out to me the number of pieces on the box is just a rough guide to give you an idea as to the complexity of the puzzle, and there may be a few pieces fewer or greater than stated.