I beachcomb most days
Usually combing back from my morning chicken and quail chores along what we call the "long Walk" , now a tangle of leafless bittersweet vines, the sea always beckons me.
This day it was deep azure sky and sea which belied the chilly temps
But, I'm made of tough stuff and the cold doesn't bother me. In many ways, especially on days such as this when one has the morning to go out on a good ramble after a lovely beachcomb, the excitement of the day warms one.
It begins, the first stoop and grab for treasures
It never fails the second my wellies leave the stone step path to the shell strewn dried beach grass path I spy a 'treasure'.
Now "treasures" can have a loose meaning to me. Surely I've never found diamonds (tho once fold a gold ring) and jewels on our rocky shore, to me the various shells, stones , driftwood and other flotsam and jetsam that washes up Are treasures to me.
A conch shell my first treasure
To be fair this is not truly a conch. We call them so, but they are in fact a whelk. I'm not sure why we do call these shells 'conks' other than they do resemble actual conch which are to be found in warmer weathers south, such as Florida and South Carolina. But 'conks' they are and they make a lovely landscape painting if held up to the sun.
You can hear the sea in a conch shell or see a lovely landscape painting when the bright sun shines thru
We often nab at least one 'conk' on the way back up from the beach when we think of it for the whelk tree or conk tree
The conch tree
An old piece of driftwood cedar tree washed ashore and leaning on the big rocks on the path back up to the garden. It gets full rather fast and I might designate one of our growing shrub honeysuckle bushes on the shore as a new secondary conch tree.
They look lovely drying in the sun in tones of pink and purple-greys
we walk into 'the drink' and feel the cool Atlantic through our wellies
I don't care if there is ice in there, I can't walk our shore without going in, even if just to my ankles with the protection of rubber and socks on my feet; it invigorates me.
The bright purple swipe of color catches my eye in the shallows
It's merely a quahog, one of the most prevalent shells to find, they are littered about for good reasons. The gulls and shore birds LOVE to drop them on the big rocks and eat them up. We don't blame them , as we've eaten our fair share of them as well.
The inside is clear white with the most beautiful purple and they got their name from the Wampanoag name for them poquauhock. Wampanoag are the local indeginous Native American tribes. These shells are also called 'wampum' short for the Narraganset term "Wampumpeag" which means "white string of shell beads". I've seen them made into all sorts of lovely jewelry.
(Not my photo)
We always have a few littering our window ledges and my studio is full of them, sometimes a basket full.
The gorgeous sherbet pink of a rock crab carapace or shedding
These rock crab sheddings or carapce I found often and I always consider them a treasure. From sizes the size of a dime to the size of my hand, they are gorgeous and are in varying shades as they dry and bleach in the sun.
This wonderful pinkish orange is one of my favorite tones and I'm always trying to capture it in paint colors. ONE day I'll paint a room this shade...when I get the color exact...one day.
We find another and this one, most likely newer, is in lovely bluish-purple tones
Now, if I don't shellac or coat this with sealant at this stage it will be pink by morning in the warm sunny window ledges of the house.
I'm constantly inspired to color combinations from beachcombing treasures on our shore
Tonal qualities of royal blue knit skirt with pinks and blues and purple shadows
Today is no different as I notice, in the bright cold sunny March day, that the blue of my skirt makes an amazing triad of color with the crab sheddings and the blue shadows upon their backs.
A whelk or 'conch' egg casing
Our next treasure upon our beachcombing walk is the wonderful egg casings of the conch.
Each of these little compartments are littered with tiny little shells of unborn whelks, Often they are empty, which of course means the little babies made it out to life. Sometimes tho, upon shaking them you get the sound of a baby's rattle. When you tear open the tough little compartments you see many tiny little conch or whelk shells inside; this is usually an extra special treasure. Today it was empty. The Horseshoe crab also has such egg casings, so this could very well be one of theirs too.
That bit of sea lettuce growing on the egg casing is also another color I am always coping in paints from Nature
One last treasure before we head back from our #WednesdayWalk :
A tiny horseshoe crab shell
I love the horseshoe crab shells and the creatures as well. They are plentiful in our little bays and bigger harbor and I also see them often in the salt water inlets and shallow tidal areas we kayak.
They are fun to watch swim away when snorkeling as they hide down in the sand , but if you can see enough of them you can give them a little tap and off they'll scuttle upon the sea bed like some alien creature or the dinosaur that they are.
This one is a treasure as he is so small
I have an intact one (with legs and tail) I found one morning who is very large. He has pride of place on a table by the sitting room window with an antique Wedgwood bowl full of shells.
My latest video is of this walk and tho I shared this video on Sunday, I think I'll still embed it here, as it does show, in video form, some of these treasures on this walk:
post today to see the rules and read his lovely walk so why not join it? It'll be an excuse to get out and have a good walk.Well, I hope you enjoyed today's #WednesdayWalk and will join in with us. Thank you for joining me for this short walk and I Hope you will join in as well for a #wednesdaywalk Per usual rather than list the rules I shall send you to @tattoodjay
I hope you find a moment of joy in your day and a moment to get out for a good ramble and as always remember to stay creative.
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I think the same, all of it is worth a look.O my… I could wander there forever @donnadavisart and find little treasures.
The crab shells are stunning. The colours. Beautiful.
Never saw a whelk before… interesting.
Thanks for sharing this great morning walk 😊☀️
thank you for stopping by @littlebee4 and yes I never get tired or bored of combing the beach, even finding the same sort of things, is still aways exciting.
It is exciting… anything “new” you find you didn’t see in the last walk.You are welcome 😊 @donnadavisart
So many treasures you have found in this walk!
I hope you will have success in this one day :))
Me too! I thought about doing my studio in that shade but instead I have this bluegreen color I finally found that seems like the sea just before a storm, the crabshell pink might be nice inside book shelves and china cabinets to show off the contents. Thanks for stopping by @mipiano
Hm, that is nice too, I like every shade of blue and green, actually turquoise is my favourite colour as I can not decide which one I like more, blue or green :))
I always enjoy your vlogs of rambling along the shore! I've only recently begun viewing, but already this area feels like part of my own landscape. Thanks for sharing with #creativecoin and posting in our Discord. And for the Ladies of Literature series ... my favorite children's literature author, Marguerite Henry, would be my suggestion, though you were probably aiming for more high brow recommendations.
OH no I like the suggestion of Marguerite Henry and I don't distinguish 'brows' in writers haha. Speaking of children authors I forgot about lovely Beatrix Potter as well...My list is getting long so I think my project of 'ladies of literature' is going to be a year long endeavour, but what a fun challenge.
I'm glad you can think of my views in my little videos as part of your landscape, that is so what I want that a person can feel they can escape into it with a simple click of the mouse. Thanks for stopping by.Thank you, I hope it's okay that I do share on the discord, never quiet sure the protocol for that sort of thing @cliffagreen.
Yes, I experience that! I like that I can do that from my computer, when I can't make it down to the bay where I live. It's perfect. ... For the Discord, the main thing we ask is that you only share #creativecoin posts! Beyond that, we hope artists like yourself will share and engage as much as you'd like to. :)
What a lovely walk to be able to do ! Great pics and I love the treasure !
I am always greatful for out little place here and happy to be so near the sea @hoosie And I do love a beachcomb!
Checking in after some time absent, I find this - wonderful story and great photos!
Many years ago I tried to take some Bullwhip kelp home to Alberta from the West Coast - silly me, it started to smell already on the way back in the car. So I dropped it in the ditch somewhere in Yoho Park. Thinking back at this I wonder if anyone seen it and scratched their head as to how it got there!
Glad you are back @thermoplastic you were missed. I hope all is well.
That is so funny, your story of taking the whelks, I remember once as a child wanting to take some seaweeds home (actually it was the 'drowned man's fingers algae' hooked to a shell) and after a few hours, when the heat of the car began to express all the sea water out of it, it wasn't so wonderful anymore haha.
Just think of the person who DID find that treasure in Yoho Park, a rare shell to take home.
Once they dry out, as you said, they are not much too look at anymore. I was just impressed by the length of it because as the name says, they look like bull whips.
Oh I realize what you mentioned you had taken with you haha, well I do wonder what someone thought of it? I wonder if an animal gave it a snif and tried it out to see if he'd like it for luncheon haha @thermoplastic
You do handle the cold far better than me I must say, and loved your walk and all the treasures you find, to me the treasures nature gives us whether conch shells, driftwood or anything else are the most special treasures, along with the smell of the sea breeze and an ocean view :)
Thanks for joining Wednesday Walk :), I truly enjoy exploring the world virtually each Wednesday seeing walks from all around the globe and feeling I am there and experiencing it all myself, such as I did in your post just now :)
Yes, I guess the cold has never bothered me @tattoodjay now the heat... If it gets above 80 I'm useless for much other than floating in the sea (or pool if there is one about) .
I wont say I ever loved the cold but it didn't used to bother me so much, till I got TB in 2007, since then I just feel the cold so much more
The heat I can handle for the most part
I have seen jewelry made with those wampums but never knew what it was. I always assumed it was some kind of crystal. I do like that colour.
You are right with he Conchy landscape painting being visible when held up to the light, it is kinda cool!
Isn't it? These shells are not rare or anything but they sure are lovely inside, thanks for stopping by @meesterboom
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