Christmas once more

The jigsaw I’m currently doing is a two-sided one. I’ve already completed the first side, a colourful, rather Victorian-looking, illustration of the carol “ On the First Day of Christmas”. It’s full of children playing gleefully. Dotted around you noticed an old man playing a hurdy-gurdy with 3 French hens in its ornamentation. In one window you notice a partridge sat on a bare branch from which a couple of pears dangle. 5 gold rings decorate the Christmas tree, along with 10 lords on leaping horses. And so it goes on.

I debated whether it was worth doing the second side since, from the info on the box, I thought it was just the words of the carol on a monochrome background. I assumed it was just the list of the twelve gifts given by my true love. I nervously turned over an end of the jigsaw & realised that in fact the background was the same illustration as the front, only in sepia tones with the words imposed over it. I decided to have a go.

I took the jigsaw apart – no cheating. I had to start from scratch. I thought it would be easy. After all, if I saw the elements of “rid”, “part” & “ge”, clearly they made up the word “partridge” and so would be “a partridge in a pear tree”. What I hadn’t realised was that the jigsaw would go through every verse, with all the repetitions so there are 12 partridges in their pear trees.

What is more, the monochrome colour makes it harder to recognise the background picture. I’m glad I did the other side first. At least I know I’m looking for a couple of balloons even if the green colour doesn’t attract me to them. It’s difficult to distinguish between one gown from another without the colour differential to guide you.

Maybe after all it is worth doing the jigsaw on its second side. I am beginning to appreciate the texture of things more – something that always strikes me with black-and-white photography as opposed for full colour. Maybe this time I will be able to locate the “8 maids a’ milking”. On the colour side I could only find the one.