Shelling
I've been shelling ever since I was a pig-tailed little girl growing up in
Sag Harbor, New York. My plan was to wait for low tide, put on my
flip-flops, call to my dogs and head down to the rocky beach. From left to
right, I'd carefully scan the shore searching for priceless treasurers.
Perhaps I would find a perfectly formed scallop or clam shell or maybe something
more exotic. 
Regardless of what I discovered, I cherished my collection
from the sea.
Those childhood days have since past. And although I've moved away from home and have a new companion at my heel, at heart, I'm still that same little girl collecting sea shells by the sea shore.
At least twice a day, Annie and I take a stroll on the beach. While she's busy sniffing a pile of seaweed, or a clump of coral, my trained eyes are searching for shells and other jewels unearthed from the sea. Recently, I started collecting "sea glass," bits and pieces of different colored glass that have been churned by the sea and sand, making them sleek to the touch. I've decided that once I've sprayed the glass with a clear finish, these treasures are attractive enough to put into a bowl or vase. They look just as good as store-bought glass marbles and the price can't be beat.
Sea
urchins are plentiful in Nassau, especially when the seas are turbulent and the
beach becomes cluttered with these brown or white prickly creatures. I
find live ones, which are black or red, lodged in clusters of rocks, or lurking
between pieces of coral. Since stepping on them is painful, I'm sure to
keep my flip-flops on.
Once home, I first rinse the sea urchins and then put them in a
pail of water mixed with bleach. After about ten to fifteen minutes, I
again rinse them in cold water and eventually, the prickly pieces fall
off. If they still require additional bleaching, I put them back in the
pail and let them sit another ten minutes. I'm cautious about the
bleaching since too much bleach can break them. Finally,
I place them under direct sunlight until they are entirely white. My
imagination just runs wild with craft ideas using the urchin.
First there's the wreath for the door, or center piece for the table. Then
there's the snowmen where I stack three different sizes of urchin, using
different shells for arms
and legs.
Sometimes, I fell like I've emptied the beach in front of our house
and that's when Annie and I take a ride in the car and discover new beaches to
explore. There's one about 
two
miles from our home and once again, the best time to go there is when the tide
is very low. Here, we walk in the water or on top of the reefs.
Again, sea urchins are everywhere under foot.
After about the second trip to
this particular beach, I made a great find; a sea biscuit. Similar to a sand
dollar which is round and flat and appears to have five petals of a flower
etched on it, the sea biscuit differs in that it is full, rather than
flat. I almost walked right past it as it was white as sand. At first, I counted my
lucky stars for discovering one sea
biscuit,
never dreaming of more possibilities. On our second excursion, I
found another sea biscuit lodged in between a gully. It wasn't until I
found the third one that I realized that this particular area was a safe haven
for these delicate creatures. Hence, I began my sea biscuit mission.
Since then, I've actually found at least 45 sea biscuits in various stages of marine life. Live ones tend to be greenish-brown and have tiny spikes on the outer shell. On the bottom of the shell is an opening and that's where the marine animal lives. If you watch carefully, you can see the shell move as a result of the continuous movement of the tiny spikes. If the animal is dead and the shell has been lying around in the sea, the shell then is beige or white, the spikes are gone and it's easier to bleach and turn white. But no matter what the stage is, I take the sea biscuits, bleach them and then place them under the hot Nassau sun.
Along with the sea urchins
and sea biscuits, I also have a collection of various shells which I eventually
will use for decoration purposes. 
I have my eye set to explore a new beach area. You never know what Annie and I might find!
