Well; I made it!

Some of you will remember that back in 2008, when we had sold our house in UK and were waiting for the winter season before we rented a flat in Spain to go house-hunting, we decided to use the three months when we were in 'limbo', realising a long held dream to have a real adventure. Originally we were considering a trip to India, but after our son Tom had a break in S.E. Asia and came back with such wonderful stories, we decided that we would go to Thailand, and then travel on to Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. We didn't book into any posh hotels, in fact the only thing we did book was our flight out there, and a return flight three months later. We only took what we could squeeze into two large rucksacks and we moved from one guesthouse to another, travelling by train, boat, bus and plane, and boy did we have our adventure! Bangkok was our base and we found we could leave half of our belongings there and travel much lighter, so we returned there several times for a change of clothes etc. and we became quite familiar with the back-street guest houses and markets. In one market we saw some lamps which really caught our eye. They were in a range of colours and shapes, but all were made from the same shaped pieces of fairly rigid plastic. They were called 'Jig-saw lamps' and rightly so, as you bought them as a pack of flat pieces which then had to be fitted together much like a jigsaw. We bought one large sphere and two little ones, but up until now we have not really found anywhere to use them. But we are just sorting out the best lighting for our new fly-free area, and decided that the large one could hang in the porch which will be more of a decoration than a useful light as we are fitting a bright light on the wall for reading etc. So today I got out the set of shapes for the large sphere shade and it sure was a puzzle. It consisted of thirty of these pieces, and some tiny, not very clear instructions. I thought I was going to need Chris' help, but just as he mastered the first round, I did too, and from then on it was easier though very fiddly, because just as I got one 'corner' fixed together, another one popped out again. But in the end I made it! And here it is fully assembled. It is now stored in a very safe place, well away from any curious animals, until the light is ready to take it. Unfortunately Chris will then have to go up a ladder with it, undo one of the five-join corners and do it up again around the hanging cable of the light. That should be more fun. He's not as patient as me when it comes to fiddly things. I'll try to get a picture of it with the light on inside it when it is finally up, but in the meantime, here is one of some of the coloured ones we saw lit up in Thailand.