Still Here!

Yep, we're still here in Florida! We actually moved on Saturday from our paradise on the beach of Sanibel to OUR paradise, just off of the beach in Ft. Myers! We headed down to Florida a couple of weeks ago, expecting the worst and ended up enjoying the best! We got a Vacation in a Vacation! A week on the island! But there is no place like home! We have restocked our fridge, and I have spent the last two days cleaning shells from the last weeks adventures!  

But I digress...our last adventure, last Thursday, Cheri and I had a few minutes to spend at the beach (3 hours) so we went on a long walk to see what we could find... The water was pretty clear...

The shelling wasn't crazy, but we were pretty steadily picking things up... today was going to be an Orange kind of day...We each found a Carrier Shell, along with some tiny Horse Conchs, a tiny Cantharus, & Orange Scallops and Jingles.

I also found a tiny Marginella....

Cheri, The Flat whisperer, found another awesome Flat!!

We came upon a small little area with a group of shells, and we just sat down and sifted through the shells.....we both did pretty well there! Cheri Found 3 Alphabet Coned, 3 Nutmegs, a DARK Lace Murex, 5 Florida Conchs and 2 Olives...these were just her favorites!!

 I didn't do too badly either...Some of the treasures I found were Olives, a Helmet piece, 3 Florida Cones and 3 Alphabets, along with some Worm shells....

Check out this HUGE Olive Cheri found!...

 This is the dark Lace Murex....what a Beauty it is!

 She also found a Goldie Lace Murex on the walk back!! So unusual!

She spotted a Flat that she gave to me, and I found this unusual colorful Scallop....

 This was Cheri's last trip, as she had to head home, but will be back in a few days....All in All, I'd say it was a pretty good day!

Ok, all the shells are cleaned up...Today was spent at Shellcrafters, so tomorrow I'm going back at it, I only have a few days left....wish me luck, and Stay tuned!!

::Shelllady Hugs::

Back to What is Familiar...& a Windy Low Tide

I haven't been able to go out for any beach therapy in the last couple of days, spent all day Monday at the Shellcrafters, which was a large amount of fun! We are working on our golf cart for the July 4th parade.  I have homework! :)  

The tides are beginning to get low in the evening now, was to be 0.0, but I wasn't sure if it would be able to get low due to the continued strong winds...

So I went back to where I was familiar...Gulfside City Park on Sanibel Island.

It was even blowing these Ibis feathers all over the place!

It was a nice low tide, but the water was rough and sandy, so all shells had to be taken between waves or on the beach. That's okay, the wind keeps the noseeums from biting and keeps it feeling cool.

There were a lot of Coquina out, haven't seen them live in a really long time...

I saw at least half a dozen Lightning whelk 'tails' sticking up through the sand...

...and saw this live cockle chillin' out along the surf... 

Up until today, I haven't seen much live, so this was quite a welcome sight.

The winter storms have changed the coastline quite a bit, and basically eliminated the tidal pools, which is my favorite type of shelling.  It looks like the tidal pools are trying to reform....

...and look what was laying in the tidal pool....do you see it?

Sure enough...a big horse conch!

It was huge, I looked at it for a while, debated rather I wanted to take it home...and decided to leave it for someone else...the point wasn't in great shape, though the color looked pretty good....I already have several so I thought I would turn it over and leave it for someone else to find.....
This couple picked it up and talked about it....I could guess the conversation...."Wow! We should take it! Where will we put it? How will we get it cleaned up, How will we get it home?" They decided not to take it...

I kept an eye on it for a long time, and no one else saw it, so it stayed put.

I have always said that I didn't like slipper shells, the reason is because they have so many different colors, they always look like something else! Like this....see the spots? Spots mean, Alphabet Cone or possible Junonia if they are larger spots....

Nope! Another Slipper!

There were tons of Fighting Conchs, I left those for someone else also, I already have too many....

I couldn't resist this perfect large Apple Murex, though I have too many of them also....

Or this pretty Pear Whelk....

I did leave this Banded Tulip for someone else to find....

A first for me was this live Auger....Put him back into the Gulf after his photo op...

I did find a few minis for my collection along the edge of the new forming tidal pools...Kittens paws, Jingles, an Olive, tiny Tulip & Fighting Conch, and Scallops.

A handful more Fighting Conchs and a Carrier Shell (bottom pic)! Took the Carrier shell home with me....

I can never resist the tiny Horse Conchs... (Sorry the pic is out of focus)

Or a beautiful little Shark's eye... ;)

I walked much further than I intended and the walk back wore me out! The sand was semi-soft and my feet were sinking with each step....a good workout!! 

On my way back, I met this couple! Notice in his right hand?! SCORE....he took home the huge Horse Conch! ;)

 The surf continues to roll..... I love this place....such GREAT Therapy!

Stay Tuned...

::Shelllady Hugs::

The Shells are here!

How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard. ~Carol Sobieski

Today's shelling was so much better....the tides are beginning to get lower and the gulf was crystal clear!! 

I ended up digging in pen shells I found.  

See the shells in and around the pen shells?

In fact, I didn't have to walk very far at all in the 3 hours we were out there! 
There must have been hundreds of Dosinia pairs there, they just help the pen shells trap the other shells. Unfortunately I had my camera with me so couldn't sit down and really dig....until Hubby came to where I was! I gave him my camera to put in his shirt pocket and sat and dug until the last possible minute! We didn't find anything spectacular, but I found lots of shells....I was going through my net while we were walking back to the car, and I'm sure I missed some! We had to get back home and start packing up because we are leaving tomorrow. :(  I realized too, that my major problem this week was that I wasn't wearing my lucky shelling shorts, today I did!! I bet that was it all along!! ;)

The pictures aren't the best because it was getting dark by the time I got them all cleaned.

My finds 

Hubby's finds

Hubby found an Awesome Shark's eye!

I found the smallest olive I've seen! 

This is an average size olive

I found 5 wentletraps, and lost the smallest, only to find it in the dryer, in the pocket of the shell shorts!! :) 

Hubby found him some Florida cones! 

I found my first carrier shells, and found 2 in a row!!

And some beautiful Pear Whelks!

I must say, we had a great time, and felt like we had to hurry up! That's a lot of fun, I wish we could stay a few more days....but there is always next time! I hope you all have enjoyed our trip....Thanks for coming along! We head up north tomorrow bright and early.

::Hugs::

Cheri