The magical Roll O Puzz (or as Doug would call it, pimping a product)

This Christmas my husband gave me one of the best gifts I’ve ever received. Okay, unconditional love, a child... all that aside, I’m talking about the Roll O Puzz.

To quote from Lee Valley (and yes, I still get to count the words): “These ingenious holders solve the problem of partially completed jigsaw puzzles monopolizing table space.”

You start to build a puzzle on the felt fabric. Then when your child wakes, or it is time for dinner, or you need to leave the house and you just know that you cats will be on the table the minute the door is closed, you simply roll the felt around a tube and the pieces stay more-or-less in place till next time you are able to unroll the felt and puzzle away some more.

There are many people who see puzzles as a ridiculous waste of time. I can see their point. One spends hours putting tiny pieces together to form an image which you already can see simply by looking at the box. And then, having completed the image, you break up the pieces and put them back inside said box.

But for some people, this ridiculous piecing together is relaxing and thoroughly enjoyable. Ever since I was little I have loved building puzzles and as an adult a holiday doesn’t quite feel like a holiday if I haven’t had the chance to build one.

Of course this all changed when we had a child – a child whose change table is also the dining room table, which is also the only puzzle-able surface in the house. Puzzles were relegated to the basement where they sit and collect dust.

Until the Roll O Puzz. And now, my world has changed. New vistas have unfurled before me. Well, at least a new puzzle can unroll before when I have the time to build it.

V not only gave me the Roll O Puzz for Christmas, he also bought me a new puzzle. A puzzle which I have been able to build over the last few weeks, put away as needed, and return to when I have the chance. Oh the joy!

Temporarily sold out at Lee Valley.