Sea Glass Hunter's Handbook - A Giveaway!

Oh! A new sea glass hunter's guide to finding elusive sea glass.... Imagine my surprise when my friend Suzanne, at Liberty Bay Books,  gave me a copy of the new  "Sea Glass Hunters's Handbook"  last week when we were in the Pacific Northwest.  It's now been added to my "Beach Reads" on the Liberty Bay Books website!

I like this book so much, that I thought more sea glass fans should know about it too!  I also thought it would be fun to have a give-a-way contest to share a copy with our blog readers.

As you all probably know, I am a sea glass fiend.  I hate to admit that I don't have a clue about its' origins or any of its' history.

This new Sea Glass Hunter's Handbook is a fun guide, perfect for those of us collectors wanting to know just a little bit more!   Some of my favorite pages in the book are quotes and stories from other sea glass collectors about their favorite finds. Many of whom I have met on Facebook and on Twitter. (Sharon Sand, Tami Ewing, and Melinda Vahradian)

There is a section on beaches around the world to find sea glass - by no means complete, but there are some great locations, and hopefully a beach near you.  (I know that there are a few near me!)

The handy "lexicon" for us sea glass obsessed beach combers, is also a fun chapter.  I had no idea that there were so many words to describe sea glass hunting and beach combing!  Did you?
Some of my favorites;

*"Clinkers, Clunkers: fragments that need to be thrown back into the ocean"
*"Flotsam: odds and ends, usually from wreckage or cargo spill, that float on water; not to be confused with jetsam"

The online recommendations guide compiled by the author, C.S. Lambert,  is also a great resource.  She has included some of my favorite networking sites to connect with other sea glass lovers.  Here are a few of the examples that are included:
*www.northeastseaglassociety.ning.com
*www.seaglassassociation.org

I would love to share a copy with one lucky give-a-way winner!  

The rules - 3 ways to enter:

1.  Leave me a comment about your favorite sea glass find  - 

Don't worry,  you will NOT have to reveal your secret sea glass beach!

2. Join our Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/caronsbeachhouse;
and post a pic of your favorite sea glass find on our wall

3. If you are not a follower of Everything Coastal, join our page, +

let  me know that you are a new follower.

*PLEASE make sure that we have your correct e-mail
*contest ends September 10, 2011  at midnight, and the winner will be chosen by random.org

Good-Luck. And wishing you especially good-luck with your sea glass hunting!

Hope you enjoy some of my sea glass adventures....

 I might even tell you where I found the pieces if you ask nice!

Island Cookie Break!

Quick break today from beach reading, for cookies made from white chocolate chips, coconut and walnuts. It's been a really rough week, I found myself craving chocolate comfort cookies. Originally white chocolate and milk chocolate chips cookies sounded pretty good, but then I spotted this recipe on the white chip package. (I will probably still give you a list of some of my favorites from the past year!)

Island Cookies

• 1 2/3 cup flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder (forgot this last night and had to send Tom back to the store!)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup butter or margarine.  (I like to use margarine in cookies - seems to make them a little softer and gooey)
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 2 cups (12 oz) white chips
• 1 cup coconut flakes - toasted if you would like
• 3/4 cup macadamia  nuts or walnuts

Heat oven to 375.

Mix butter/margarine and sugars, until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla. Mix together dry ingredients and add them to sugar mixture. Then blend in coconut, chips, and nuts.   Bake 8-10 minutes.

Enjoy every bite!  

Now... what to read with your cookies and milk?

For times when I need a quick stress relief, cannot recommend Gift From The Sea highly enough.  This classic is timeless and holds true even after 55+ years.  Insightful, calming....

"In this inimitable, beloved classic—graceful, lucid and lyrical—Anne Morrow Lindbergh shares her meditations on youth and age; love and marriage; peace, solitude and contentment as she set them down during a brief vacation by the sea. Drawing inspiration from the shells on the shore, Lindbergh’s musings on the shape of a woman’s life bring new understanding to both men and women at any stage of life" 

Still one of the best books that I have read in the past few years - Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen.  Tragic and beautiful all mixed together in this tale of a struggling circus train - "The Great 

Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth",

 during the early years of the Great Depression. The myriad cast of characters will stay with you long after you put the book down. MUST have on your book shelf.

One of my very best friends, Suzanne Droppert,  owns a small independent bookstore in Poulsbo, WA , Liberty Bay Books, I have been incredibly fortunate to have been able in the last few years to help her with several author events. It's one thing to read, but quite another to actually hear an author speak and bring a whole new perspective to their story.  In November of 2008, we had event with the Kitsap Regional Library and with the areas'  regional bookstores for Lisa See.  We managed to fill an auditorium at the local community college! There were so many people, and she was a fascinating story teller -  stories about growing up Chinese, but not Chinese... I finally had a chance when I moved to CA to read Peony in Love.  Rich characters and places that bring alive imagination  - 

Steeped in traditions and ritual, this story brings to life another time and place–even the intricate realm of the afterworld, with its protocols, pathways, and stages of existence, a vividly imagined place where one’s soul is divided into three, ancestors offer guidance, misdeeds are punished, and hungry ghosts wander the earth. Immersed in the richness and magic of the Chinese vision of the afterlife, transcending even death

The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver. This was another great author that I had the opportunity to hear speak last winter on Bainbridge Island. The Poisonwood Bible is a rich layered story of a missionary family that traveled to the Congo in 1959, a time of great upheaval in Africa, the Unites and the World . WOW- Difficult to describe this incredible journey.. another MUST have for your bookshelf. 

"They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it -- from garden seeds to Scripture -- is calamitously transformed on African soil" 

Winter Garden, by Kristin Hannah This is the latest book of Kristin's that I have read, (mine is autographed!)  just one story in a long line of many.  I have a special place for Kristin, as she is a local Puget Sound girl, and has written many "chic-lit", books that are simply feel good.  For me, they are especially fun to read because I can imagine many of the places she is describing.  Kristin is a wonderful writer, and totally down to earth.  You will love her! 

Winter Garden is a tale of that takes the characters from the orchards of Eastern Washington to the war-torn streets of Russia.  Great tale, and again, I learned so much that I didn't know about the people and their struggle in Russia in the mid-part of this century.  WWII was particularly heartbreaking...

Enjoy the cookies!