Recreating the beautiful beach stuff.
The seaweed is Thongweed Phaeophyta. They grow from mushroom-shaped structures of about 1in in diameter that are attached to the rocks. Often, there are goose barnacles stuck to them (like in the picture below), forming beautiful, natural wind chimes.
Unfortunately, they dry out if they are removed from the beach, and the next best are these:
Sun catchers from sea glass.
Rocks are geological wonders, with millions of years of the earth’s history embedded in them. These are a couple of ‘ordinary’ ones, with mineralised worm tracks creating an organic pattern, and the other one is studded with barnacles.
Note that the barnacles below are different from goose barnacles; these are acorn barnacles and they are generally found further out to sea. Interesting thing about barnacles is that spend their entire lives in their conical shells. They live standing on their heads and, when the tide comes in, they open their trap doors and wave their legs in the water hoping to catch bits of plankton.
From smooth rocks, you can make these lovely ornaments which are very zen:
Some of the best jewellery are sea inspired:
or straight off the beach.
Nothing can beat the beauty of a living being (I came across this on Sandown beach one January morning):
But please don’t remove them. Also, please don’t remove shells from the beach. They’re homes for vulnerable sea creatures who have temporarily lost theirs. Thanks 🙂
For me, the next best thing is seaglass. The best stretch of beach for sea glass in Southern England is Cowes-Gurnard. This piece is not ready yet, and am returning it to the sea to be tumbled for the next few months/years. I hope its next finder will enjoy its beauty.
My finds from my beachcombing today (25th February 2022):
This heart-shaped clay pendant was made by a potter in Mallorca, the colour inspired by the oceans in summer.
This cool rock (below) wasn’t found anywhere near the sea, but in the forest of Orient, Mallorca, Spain. My friends (Richard and Charles) and I went looking for an enchanted waterfall in late summer, and I stumbled across this rock which looked like the skull of a small animal. Another one for my collection.
Simple Green Planet 