A Confession

I have this “problem”.

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It manifests itself every time I go to the beach.

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(which is quite often at the moment because I have to check on Delia’s rug).

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I always take the dogs with me as they like the beach too.

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Anywho, my problem.

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Well, I am ashamed to talk about it really.

But……..

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I like to collect interesting shaped or coloured beach stones and take them home with me in the hope that once home, they stay just as beautiful and can now adorn my house, only they don’t.

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By the way, this problem also includes shells.

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I do have some standards (no limpets or barnacles) but I also have piles of not-very-pretty-now-they-are-home shells and stones.

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Even stones with potential messages look ugly and silent the minute they reach home.

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It is a bit like going round Ikea with a shopping trolley, buying everything in sight because it looks fab in the store and then getting it all home, unpacking it and asking yourself why, just why.

When I was a child, we used to drag these rocks home, realise they were boring and then put them in a rotary rock-tumbling machine (it rumbled on and on in the garage for years).  The results were just as horrible but now had value, if only from the electric it cost.  I remember sticking them onto blank bracelets with araldite (remember the matches stirring the two types together) and distributed to family for Christmas!

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Am I alone?  Do I need therapy?

Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.

 

 

9 thoughts on “A Confession

  1. Terri

    Er…I’ve got the same problem (so relieved it’s not just me). It started when I was a child. I’m in recovery from collecting rocks (mostly), but shells are another thing…. **sigh**
    PS Love these photos!

    Reply
  2. Vicki

    I do the same thing, and end up in the same place. They’re still nice, smooth, and pretty but they lack the amazingness they had when I picked them up. I used some in an aquarium as décor, and they did look nice. Maybe they need to stay wet?

    Reply
  3. Linda K

    Same here with pebbles and shells which I took from Aberdeen beach that I thought were pretty and exotic and are now gathering dust. It would be interesting though to find out more about these rocks, how old they are, what they’re made of, etc.

    Reply
  4. Linda

    No, you’re not alone. I even used to try spitting on them to get the color back, but no luck…
    I confess I once paid $5 for a back of beautiful turquoise rocks, said to be especially from my home state, and they’re in a glass vase, on a shelf, and really, they’re just light blue smooth stones.

    Reply
  5. Donna

    My parents started it, then I also caught it. We ended up using them to line the flower beds . We had Hens and Chicks, so we could still see the rocks. But I still have some in a box. After 50 years I don’t think there is a cure. LOL

    Reply
  6. Holly Sanderson

    Whenever I get to see the ocean, I end up taking home a pile of beach stones. I can’t help it, especially in Oregon where I find agates. This is an issue as I have to fly to get to an ocean so my luggage is often much much heavier on my return trip. Last trip I had to move rocks from one suitcase to another in order to not be charged overweight on one. I don’t care. Beach stones are fabulous and I need them all.

    Reply
  7. Sam

    I live on the Connecticut shoreline and my pockets are full of jingle shells. Everytime I go to the beach, which is often. My mom loved rocks. Collected so many of them (all with memories attached so she said) that as a testament to his love for her, my step-dad boxed said rocks up and moved them to more than one new apartment. In fact, I found his long missing wedding band in the last box of rocks he had of hers.

    Reply

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