Social Distancing Florida Style

If I've got to have social distancing...what better place than Florida?! I have taken a couple of nice walks on the beach, and after the holiday weekend, I'm hoping to take a few more before we leave. Most public parking is still closed on Sanibel so it is difficult to get there, otherwise you would be getting more frequent posts! :) These pictures are a group from different places...
My favorite find so far is this horse conch....I know beauty is in the eye of the (be)holder....right?

What do you think now?

I soaked it in bleach water for days, frequently removing it and using a pic, knife, and a strong brush...then putting it back in the water...I'd say it was worth it!! This is my favorite size Horse Conch!

I also love these Atlantic Wing Oysters....they are so fragile and aren't real common, they insides are always iridescent...this trip I found 3!

I picked up a few Wentletraps...another favorite!

Beautiful True Tulip...

and I found this Spiny Jewel box with my foot!!!!!!

Nice one, but would have preferred to find it the 'old fashioned way'!

I got a few minis also....(notice the inside of the Wing Oysters)

That's a penny in there to give you a size comparison...

look at that Albino Sharks eye...my Daddy would be proud...as I've said before, Sharks eyes were his favorite!

I saw a lot of Life while I was on these walks, that means as much...or even more to me than the shelling....

How about this Sea Star??...Sea X??? How cool is that?

There were lots of Sea Stars out there....

I even had the pleasure of seeing a Dolphin slowly swimming and feeding...

and of course, I love my Pelicans!!

I've been spending lots of time painting shells and hiding them either early morning or late evening. It keeps people from seeing me being sneaky and keeps me away from people. Here's a few I've just finished... so fun!!

and of course, I have needed to restock since it looks like we'll be staying in for at least a while longer....

I hope you all are well and I hope to post more soon!!
Back to the paint brush!!! Stay Tuned!


::Shelllady Hugs::

Beach Therapy May 2020

I hope this post finds you and your loved ones in good health. Like you all, Hubby and I have been quarantined since Mid March, my Mom is on lock down in an assisted living place, and we have been learning the new normal.  After days of cold, rain and then hot, then cold again with no light at the end of the tunnel as Virginia remains in a complete lockdown, Hubby and I decided to head to our other home in Florida where things are slowly opening up.  I have done a LOT of shell painting during these couple of months and spreading those was also cancelled until this week!!! 

So today I started spreading smiles with shells on our favorite island, Sanibel!! I painted 2 shoeboxes full of these guys during this quarantine!!! Here's a few examples!

After spreading a few at some favorite spots, I went on a long slow therapeutic walk on the beach!!

There were lots of birds,

Bathtime!!

    

I even saw a cow nose ray.....look in the circle!

can you see him in that crystal clear water??

This is turtle season on Sanibel, there were soooo many nests! See the track?

This nest was too close to the water....

on my way back up the beach, the turtle folks had moved it up above the high tide line! Hopefully that will be me one day!!

The shelling wasn't great, I managed to restock some of my collection of shells to paint, found this perfect tiny Nutmeg....

and this beautiful Scallop....the picture doesn't do it justice....so Bright!!

Pardon the swollen hands....I got to get back into shape, plan on as many of these walks as I can do!!! (If I can walk tomorrow). ;)

Facebook videos of the beach has really helped me during this down time so I thought I would add on to it.....so peaceful! Turn up the volume and listen to it all....guaranteed to make you relax!!!!

Stay Tuned!

::Shelllady Hugs::

Birds, Scallops and Crabs oh my!

This post will have a couple of day trips on it because I have neglected my posting.  As it has been lately, the beaches are amazing, the weather is wonderful, the shells....not so much.  But you know me, the beach walks are my favorite and much needed therapy and my trip is quickly coming to an end....

Team Cheri continues to hit the beaches early, in the dark, mainly because of the cool things that are out there....Tuesday was Tellin day! We didn't find much else, but as we were heading back, just after sunrise, Cheri noticed a few tellins...the more she looked the more she saw! It was amazing!! We both filled up our scoops with Tellins...they are actually called Alternate Tellins...

I love them because they make beautiful flowers....I couldn't believe how many there were!

Wednesday was Scallop day..... as we were walking the beach, we noticed many live scallops on the high tide line, 

I had to take a video...these guys are so cool...notice the row of eyes along their shell on the top and bottom....

Cheri knew it was long time before they would see water so she began to put them back in the gulf first it was a few here and there, then it got ridiculous....there were SO Many! I joined in and she was filling bags and I was filling my scoop and putting them back in.....

It felt like there were hundreds of them out there!!!

Of course, I always have to get a shot of the sunrise....I love this glow!

Today was Crab day....the beach had so many Flame box Crabs...they are the coolest looking things, and some of these were really small!.....

Aren't they amazing?! They were a lot of them out there...I won't bore you with too many pics, but I couldn't resist taking their picture!

I did see one small calico crab out there with them.....

The Pelicans and Skimmers were out there too....obviously it was breakfast time!

I just love these guys! Notice how he looks like he has a bowl haircut!! :D

In one area, we ran across a HUGE school of fish....notice the dark area in the water...the water was crystal clear and you could see there were hundreds of them in there!

and here came a couple of dolphin....!! I just knew we were in for a show! Of course, I didn't get it....but he did one fast pass toward the shoreline....

Then just slowly followed them along the shore....

We were hoping to find a few Flats on the walk....we found several partials....

I finally did find one with a small chip out of it....

Cheri got one too!

I did find a nice Shark's Eye....

a cute little Bittersweet...

a piece of a Lions Paw...

and Cheri found a Junonia Cob

and a couple of cute minis...a true tulip and Bright orange Scallop

as I said, my trip is rapidly coming to an end, hopefully I will have another couple of adventures to post before it does!!

Stay tuned....

::Shelllady Hugs::