North West Winds, Negative Low Tides, New Moon....The Perfect Recipe!

I know I've said this before, but I'm just going to say it again....February is my favorite month for shelling! The weather here has been cooler than normal, that just means you add another layer of clothing and go out there with a really good flashlight and you're good!

Cindy and I did just that this morning, and it did not disappoint! We had the best time! Again, I didn't take a lot of pictures, partly because it's hard to juggle a camera, shellbag, & flashlight....mainly because I was too busy picking up stuff! Today for me was True Tulip day! 

It started out with this beautiful Live True Tulip, of course, he went back in after this photo op....was this a sign? Maybe!

This beauty was peeking out of the sand on a sandbar.... One of the nice things about Trues is they come in many colors!

Reds and Oranges

Here's another reddish Orange and what we call a Chocolate with a reddish top! Aren't they beautiful? Again, one of my favorites! ;)

We are also trying to find Cindy some big Horse Conchs and Lighting Whelks!....

Walking through the nearly empty (of water) Tidal pool, we stumbled on this beauty...

When you see it, a little voice in your head says....'please don't be alive, please be whole'....then you start lifting and digging him out...........

Viola!!! He was not alive, and whole!!!! (in great shape too, not a lot of cleaning to do!!)

We continued in the tidal pool, saw so many Large Live Lightning Whelks, both with the original Snail and with Hermit Crabs!

We don't take Live shells of any kind, they have to be empty! We saw so many!

The sun started coming up, and the birds were coming out....another beautiful morning and amazing Sunrise was on it's way....

As we continued our search in the tidal pool, the seagulls were picking up live Cockles, flying up in the air with them & dropping them on the nearby sand bar to break them open and eat the meat inside!! It's fun to watch!!

While we were picking up shells, and checking Lightning Whelks for inhabitants we found this awesome looking sponge....It is purple on the outside edges...I'm guessing it is a type of boring sponge....I looked it up in my books, but couldn't find it, maybe some of you scientific, Oceanographers can let me know!! ;)

The sunrise did not disappoint!

Doesn't it just make you say..."Ahhhhhhh"?!

Finally, as we got closer to the exit, she found it! 

How pretty is that??

To me the day was a Huge Success!! Here are my finds....The paper figs on the top right are for a friend Lynne to craft with....

I ended up with 15 True Tulips, of every color!!! (center of pic, of course I rarely pass up Shark's eyes (to the right of center) Banded Tulips, And check out thos Alphabet Cones! The 2 on the right are pretty good sized! Below those and to the right are a few Pear Whelks, Bottom Center are varing sizes of Horse Conchs, to their left are Apple murex, then a Kings Crown and a couple Olives. to their left are just some colorful Scallops with a worm shell!

I'd say it was a good morning....wouldn't you?!

Here's an update: Remember this guy from my last post?

With a lot of soaking in bleach, and some scraping and picking, this is how he turned out!!

Isn't it a beauty??? It still has a perfect tip with a little white dot, just like it was born with!!

Well, Stay Tuned, Hopefully more adventures to come this week in particular with these amazing low tides, and winter winds!!

::Shelllady Hugs::

"You Can Never have Too Many Tulips!"

There has not been a lot going on to post about lately....I have managed to slow down and act like I'm retired! My days are crafting, either making stuff out of shells for Sanibel Shellcrafters or painting shells to spread (we call it sprinkling) around Sanibel Island, and Team Cheri has been pretty consistent with our beach 'walk and talks' which is my therapy session! :) 

Oh and we had a little storm pass by!!

We spent a lot of time watching Hurricane Idalia and it's path. It was forecasted to pass to our west and make landfall up North, between Tampa and the big bend. As it passed by we held our breaths that it wouldn't turn, it brought a few bands of heavy rain, but not bad. After it passed we were in what Hubby and I called the  'tail' of the storm, it lasted for at least 2 days, pretty strong winds with stronger gusts, and some rain bands. Unfortunately it gained strength and made landfall near Cedar key. My thoughts and prayers go out to those folks.

So, I've heard that after a storm goes by, the shelling can be tremendous. There was light flooding on Sanibel, Captiva and Fort Myers Beach. Mostly parking lots near the beaches. So I went out each day to the beaches that were open and found little to nothing! The best (low) tide was the day the storm came by so I got out there as soon as I could. Nothing to post about...then a friend messaged me and suggested I try another beach, this time on Fort Myers Beach...I've only driven by once or twice and stopped to shell a couple times in the years we've lived here. It's just as close as Sanibel, just across from it, another direction...so why not? I'll make it an adventure! Fort Myers Beach was hit very hard by Hurricane Ian nearly a year ago and they are still very devastated, they are as bad or worse than Sanibel and are very much in rebuild mode, business, Hotels and homes are all in varying stages of restoration. It's very sad to see, and so hard to imagine what they are going through! While there a man stopped and talked to me and said they were getting better and slowly but surely they would be back to whatever normal is! Such a great attitude!

Sorry, too many words....on to the adventure! 

I got onto the beach at daybreak and immediately could see that this was going to be an adventure! The Gulf was very calm and the visibility was good in the water...

Tons of shells in the water, most were alive, so you have to do a lot of studying and exploring! Heaven!!

One of my favorite shells (I have many) are True Tulips! How about this beauty?!

a few more steps and I saw this pretty Pear Whelk!

There were lots of signs of life here, which, as you know, I love! This Banded Tulip was hanging out on top of the Cockle!

This is a nice sized Horse Conch, I don't usually find these guys this time of year, he was alive and well, so after his photo op, he went back!

His 'body' is the bright orange you see around the dark brown Operculum (door) that offers him protection!

I found several of these big old gnarly Lightning Whelks, they have lived a hard life and it shows!

There were quite a few of these little clusters of live shells, notice the Albino Apple Murex on the left, that's a special find!!! But it is alive so it won't be disturbed!

Another beautiful Pear Whelk, look at that color! It's a pretty good guess with such vivid markings that it could be alive!

and it is!

Back he goes to grow! I found my first complete Calico Clam, some call them Checkerboards....Had to save a set for my collection!! Nice coloring on it, right?!

Score!! Another Beautiful True Tulip!....

Nope...it is alive also!! Back he goes to Live on!

as you see in this picture his Operculum (door) is open!

I really enjoyed this guy....No you don't see him....

Now you do! 

He played peek a boo with me for a while! It's a hermit crab in a Pear Whelk! So fun!

I enjoyed this, I'm calling him Chester, after my Granddog! Press the arrow, I couldn't resist taking a video!

A little ways down the beach I hit the jackpot with the True Tulips, most of these came out of the same place!

So many colorful True Tulips!! With a bonus Nutmeg and another pretty Pear Whelk!

And Another favorite...I know I know, I have SO many favorites! A juvenile Horse Conch! Nice color huh?!

It was time to head back, I have been on this adventure for 3 hours now, it's time to call it a day!! On the way back I found this BEAUTIFUL Lacey Lace Murex...He was alive, but look at all that lace!!! He safely back in the Gulf!

Here's a look in my bucket! I think it was a good day, wouldn't you?

Here they are a little more organized!

At the very top center are broken pieces I save for a friend named Bonnie who paints beautiful things on the broken ones!to the right of them is a Huge piece of Coral I found that was Hollow in the center, I thought it was cool, and may work for another craft piece! Next row is a pair of Sunray Venus, a set of the biggest Cockles I think I've ever seen, then some Shark's eyes. Under the Cockles are a variety of colors of Lighting Whelks! Under that are my collection of True Tulips for the day, the the left are a few Apple murex. In the center are two Horse Conchs, a biz zillion Banded Tulips, and a nice collection of Pear Whelks!

Close up of the Trues...

and the Pears

I might just be going on this adventure again! It was such fun!!

Stay Tuned!

::Shelllady Hugs!::