Beachcombing & razor clams

Hi,
I've been doing things with razor shells this week......
I've always lived in landlocked parts of the country, far enough from the sea to make a simple day at the seaside into a real event. Perhaps that's why I've always loved beachcombing. As a child, the nearest coastline to us was North Norfolk & we would collect bags full of shells at Heacham Beach or walk out onto the fascinating squelchy mudflats at nearby Snettisham. This is where an iron age treasure trove of gold torcs was discovered (now in the Boudicca Gallery at Norwich Castle Museum) & I don't think there was a single time we visited Snettisham mudflats that Mum didn't say to us 'Keep your eyes peeled, girls, we might find a golden torc!' Of course, we never did, but enjoyed the usual haul of pebbles, shells & sea glass, which we never knew quite what do do with, when we got them home, athough leaving them on the beach would have been unthinkable.

On a holiday in North Cornwall several years ago, I beachcombed the cove at Port Quin. Like a lot of Cornish beaches, there is a fast flowing stream rushing down over the sand & shingle to the sea. I picked up a small shard of old blue & white china from the stream, an oriental design, showing the head of a tiny figure in a Chinese hat. It was added to my pocket with other such treasures, which came home to adorn a patio plant pot. Almost exactly a year later, I returned to Port Quin, picked up another little piece of blue & white china, rinsed it in a rock pool & saw that it featured a tiny tunic & pair of legs. When I got it home, it matched EXACTLY with the previous shard to make a perfect tiny oriental man. Two high tides each day, almost certainly a few storms, a swiftly running stream & a year of other holiday-makers kicking around the pebbles & beachcombing.........yet I was in the right place at the right time to find that matching shard! Synchronicity is a fascinating thing.

My most recent opportunity for beachcombing was earlier this month on a camping trip. A walk to the tideline at Wells-next-the-sea yielded a bag of impressive razor clam shells. I'd been hoping to find some of these, as they make such great plant labels. Just carefully separate the two halves of the shell, wash & dry, then if you have a waterproof marker pen, you can use them straight away.

 The great thing about these (apart from them being free!) is that when they start to biodegrade, they can simply be added to the compost bins, where I'm sure they contribute a few useful minerals. They look a whole lot nicer than the plastic labels too. If you've collected plenty & have gardening friends, tie a bundle of these with ribbon & give as a gift with some seed packets & groovy string or gardening gloves. The pebble in the photo is the label for my Black Hamburg grapevine. I sometimes use pebbles for labelling big plants where I want something more decorative than plastic.

I'm feeling a bit stiff this morning from yesterday's over-exuberant weeding session in the red onion bed.....which is hard lines, as I'm off down the veggie garden again shortly to clear a jungley bed ready for transplanting the leeks.
We are still meowless, but have heard that Saturday is definitely going to be THE day!!
Back soon,
C x