Finishing Driftwood?

One of my new friends on Lopez shared with me that her husband used to work with driftwood, too - had the same love affair with it that I do.  But he sanded and finished the wood! Now why hadn't I thought of that??  It certainly sent my creative brain spinning and envisioning.  So now I need to do some research and start asking questions about sanding techniques and finishing.  A quick survey of the topic on-line provides a myriad of "how-to" articles on prepping, de-bugging (literally, not in the computer or technical sense), sanding, finishing and sealing driftwood. Who knew?

It also produced this quote that reflects my own thoughts so perfectly:

"Fascinating driftwood, battered by the elements, bleached by the sun, coming possibly from very far away, and finally washing ashore for us to harvest and unfold its artistic potentials."  http://woodsil.com/driftwoodhome.html

I don't want this to overshadow the weaving, but it certainly would put the pieces that incorporate driftwood into a more refined category.  Sigh - so many possibilities.  And exactly the type of new ideas and inspiration I was hoping for.  Not all of them will "catch", but it's so fun to explore. (Okay, and it also holds the possibility for the necessity of new tools....maybe even power tools!!!!) 

It just gets better and better.