The last one....for this trip!!

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.  ~Lao Tzu

This is always a difficult post for me, the last one of the trip.  I never seem to find a quote that shows how I feel, and I never really know what to say! We got an extra day this trip simply because we took it! We originally planned on heading home today, but as this new home feels more and more like where we want to be, we decided it was worth just staying simply because we wanted to! How about that?! It is a two day drive home, and we will stop in North Carolina for a few hours to see Hubby's mom and take care of things for her so we will be home late Sunday, just in time for us to begin our REAL life again...you know the drill, work, chores, duties...all that REAL life stuff!! We will be back soon, we hope for more adventure and more paradise.

Since it was supposed to be so "COLD" this morning we stayed in bed and slept in a bit and didn't go to Sanibel before dawn! For some reason 49 degrees in shorts just didn't sound like what we wanted to do this morning!! I know, most of you have FEET of snow and freezing temperatures, but we have been living at 65 degree dawns and 80+ degree days....and loving it.  Real life for us this time of year is 30 degrees one day and 60 the next....with rain and ice off and on!! So we decided the nice warm bed was where we wanted to be....after all we were playing Hookie...right??

We did go to Sanibel for "Linner" (Lunch and Dinner) about 3:00 to Gramma Dots, many people decided to do the same thing! Everyone, except Hubby was in sweatshirts and long pants, but the food was wonderful and of course we had to finish up with some awesome Key Lime pie!  

We came back home and went for a walk around our new neighborhood and I saw something awesome!! So my post today is from our neighborhood instead of the beach, and also some 'catch-up' posting!  

You probably think I am crazy, but I thought poinsettias were grown in pots wrapped in green or gold foil, didn't you?....check this out!!

There were several of these bushes in our neighborhood!! I know you must think I'm crazy, but I never knew they were something that you could just grow, and that they were bushes!! they are gorgeous and the flowers are huge!!

We also have several bottle brush trees....appropriately named, don't you think??

We can alway count on our neighborhood Ibis to be hanging around the pond!! They obviously have become quite tame...they fly up to you and greet you when you come out our back door!!

The Great White Egret, is a resident also, though he doesn't usually stick around very closely so I felt very fortunate that he struck a pose just for me!!

I believe this is a little blue heron....I guess he struck a pose also....or had an itch!! :)

This pic might just end up on my wall....love this pose!!!

I wanted to show you how the horse conch turned out!! It looks much better, and now has a place on our porch! He has lost his point, but that just gives him more character!

Do you remember the small one I found on our last trip in early December??
Here it is before I cleaned it up...It's not NEARLY as big as Hubby's!!

Here it is after it was cleaned up!! It was absolutely perfect!!

It now resides with its cousins in our living room in the REAL world!

That's him in the back left!

I also wanted to show you something I made for my Grandbabies and their parents for Christmas!! Our four little angels!!

Cute huh?!

This will probably be my last post for a little while! Hope you and your families stay safe and continue to have a Happy 2014!!

::Hugs::

Cheri

A New Year, and a New Day with some old memories!

We will open the book.  Its pages are blank.  We are going to put words on them ourselves.  The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.  ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Forgive me, I just wanted to have a little fun....every time I see one of these pen shells, I think of what I love! I think God puts them here and there along our walks so that we think, and appreciate what we have.  Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but that is just where my thought processes take me while getting my beach therapy.

We got to Gulfside park this morning at our usual time and knew pretty quickly that it was going to be a beautiful day! There were lots of stars and we saw very few clouds, it's been pretty cloudy everyday this trip.  We headed over to the crab pots where my Dad used to dig....before we got there, Hubby found another huge horse conch!! This one was a little bit too vintage for our tastes so he threw it near the shore, and a guy who we have talked to before, (and already found one) picked it up!! Now he has two of these monsters!! I did take a pic to show you all, comparing it to my size 9 foot it has a great sharp point on it!!

Shortly after this we found Daddy's crab pot and began to dig, there were so many pen shells, and there are two other crab pots nearby. 

This is the lid of the crab pot opened just slightly

I did stop long enough to take a couple of pics of the sunrise....at just the right time!! It just makes you say..."AWWWWWW" doesn't it?

We had little to no luck this time, but they are a little bit deep and it is difficult to dig.  The entire time I dug I could just think about Daddy and how much he enjoyed this type of shelling....I just knew I was going to find a shark's eye anytime! I did get a broken baby's ear, which is a fairly rare find for this area...course I kept it!! :) 

I continued down the beach a little and hit an area that produced 3 Alphabet cones and some true tulips!! Unfortunately only one was worth keeping! It's the only one we have found on this trip! So here is how the day ended up...not too shabby!!

Hubby's finds

My finds

Hubby got some sweet pear whelks

I got 2 true tulips and a banded tulip...

...and a Florida Cone, Alphabet cone and some of Daddy's sharks eyes!

Looks like we might be staying another day!! :D I thought we would be heading back up north tomorrow, but....maybe not!! Stay tuned!!

::Hugs::

Cheri

New Years Day...Welcome 2014!!

New Year's Day:  Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions.  Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.  ~Mark Twain

Happy New Year!! I hope this first day of 2014 finds you well and happy and excited to meet what comes this new year!!  We got up before dawn again this morning and headed to Gulfside City Park.  New Years brought us an extra low tide that was right at sun up.  When Hubby and I hit the beach, he decided to head to the right toward Island Beach Club and I decided to go with the tried and true and head toward Sundial!  I walked and walked and walked at a pretty good pace and wasn't finding anything!! It was very unusual!....So I just kept walking.  Meanwhile, Hubby had found a few nice fighting conchs and ran across this monster.....then he found our old digging spot!! 

It's not perfect, but it certainly is a monster!! I believe it is the biggest one I have seen!! 

A crab pot that my Dad used to love to dig!! I would not have guessed that it could still be found!! Apparently, after he found this he headed out to get me to bring me to it!! I continued walking and he got stopped several times by people who noticed the massive shell and he lost ground!! :) He finally caught me and by the time we walked all the way back to the crab pot it was deep in the water!! Guess my first New Year decision may have not been the best!! Oh well....there is always tomorrow and another low, low tide!!

Hubby found a tiny little sharks eye!

A tiny Sanibel Turret this always looks like an antique!!

I found a sharks eye too! 

The clouds finally parted and we had beautiful sunshine when we left, these Snowy Plovers were enjoying it!! They are so tiny, and so cute!!

I'm working at getting the shells cleaned up, this sand dollar took the bleach like no other I have found, I think it looks neat!!

...and this is phase one with the monster shell, he's currently bathing in a 50/50 solution! Will post pics when I finish him up!!

Happy 2014 Everyone!

::Hugs::

Cheri