can't use items in my inventory

Whenever I click on something and then leave the inventory area, the item shows in the little picture window to the left, but my pointer does not change and I can't use anything. Also, I keep looking for the "chest" mentioned in the walkthrough and it does not show up - only the turtle eggs! Does anyone know what's going on? Can anyone tell me how to fix this?

The picture window means that you are holding the item. Your next click on something in the game is using that item on something else. Whilst you can combine several items to make one, you can only ever use one (held) item at a time.

Thanks for answering, but it doesn't seem as if clicking does anything that it is supposed to do while the item is in the picture frame. I've been able to pick up stuff, but not to use any of it. Am I doing something wrong?

Some things you have to combine in your inventory before you can use them.
Have you built a fire? I think that's something you can click an item on without having processed it first.

I figured out what I was doing wrong. I was trying to left click in the wrong areas. Thanks for your help though.

There are 2 places with turtle eggs... one where you can see a turtle going back to the sea and one click back towards the arch is another one...