Winter Storms and Negative Tides

I haven't had much to Blog about lately....for the first time ever, Liz and I went to the beach a couple days ago and I came home EMPTY handed. We needed some of those Winter storms down here to stir the Gulf up. I've spent my time lately crafting for the upcoming Shell Show with the Sanibel Shellcrafters and painting shells to hide.....

Yesterday the storms came....the bad news is we had 3 water spouts turned tornadoes here in Fort Myers. I have a couple of friends who have damage to their homes. Jimmy and I heard that iconic 'freight train' just once and for only a few seconds. According to the weather and alarms on our phones, they were on 3 sides of us over a course of 3 hours. Interesting morning to say the least. We thankfully are perfectly fine, the damage begins just down the road with Palms Fronds ripped, all the way to Modular homes completely destroyed....so sad, my prayers go out to each and every one of them.

After the storms hit, (Which was a cold front...you know the one that dumped all that snow and Ice) we got more strong winds, along with high surf advisories.....there it is! Stirring up the Gulf!!! So of course Liz and I were out there at O dark thirty, to catch the tides right....negative tides!!

The once barren beach, had everything you can imagine out there! You know me, I love the live stuff almost as much as the shells!

There were LOTS of Live Horse Conchs!

Some of these guys were HUGE!!

Even this guy that was attached to the side of a crab.....the crab is dead, the beautiful orange Horse Conch isn't! ;)

I saw this huge Nine armed SeaStar first thing.....I love these guys!! He was very much alive!!

A beautiful Live Pear Whelk....

....and a Whole bunch of  Big True Tulips...Live of course! Everything this morning was on Steroids!!! Huge!!

As the sun rose, I spotted several shells that had these Tulip Egg Casings attached! 

It looks like ruffles when they all are put closely together!!

Liz and I saved this eel....I couldn't find it in any of my books, so I googled it, and I think it might be a Moray! Anyone out there know??

He was pretty sluggish, but hopefully he will come around!!

Liz found this Lightning Whelk with a pretty impressive Hermit inside!!

There were also a BUNCH of Live Lightning Whelks, which is always so nice to see!!!

This is a Flame Streaked Box Crab.....unfortunately, I don't think he was alive! ;(

So, not all of it was live.....I found quite a few treasures.....

I found this Horse Conch first.... 

Not very good....maybe I'll look some more....

Now That's better!!!

A few more steps, and found this one.....

Not great....keep looking!! 

I found a beautiful Shark's eye, Nice Gaudy Nautica & colorful little Pear Whelk.                                    
Then this HUGE Shark's eye!

Then I quit taking pictures....between the flashlight and fingers rummaging around in the sand, I gave up on the camera....I did however almost catch the sunrise!

I'd say I hit the jackpot this morning!!! Wouldn't you??

Check out the color on this horse!!!! It should clean up beautifully!

Stay Tuned for the 'AFTER' pictures, a few days of soaking in bleach water and some TLC and it should be beautiful!!

 Such a fun day.... I Had to get the Sanibel Shellcrafters by 8:30 so I left....Tomorrow is another day!!! ;)

::Shelllady Hugs::

A Sanibel Morning....

There is just something about a sunrise on the water...especially on Sanibel...  It just makes you appreciate everything so much more, life seems so relaxed and peaceful. Every where you look, there is something special to see!

 

We arrived here on Friday....yes, Friday the 13th! It wasn't our best trip down, traffic was just terrible, and I got sick with a cold the day we left. It goes without saying that we were exhausted and I didn't feel human again until late Sunday night.  But, can you think of a better place to be sick? Me neither!! :)

So today was our first day shelling, the lowest tide is at like 4 am so we don't expect to see buckets of shells, but love the mornings, so much to see!

We got there just before sunrise, and as usual, it's just beautiful to see the world come alive....

There were many live shells, Olives were writing their messages in the sand...

Fighting conchs were riding along in the surf.....

Live Cockles were blowing bubbles.....

Pelicans were fishing....

The sky was on fire!!

Even this tiny nine-armed sea star was peeking out of the sand....

How can you not just feel better with all this going on around you?? I was also working on some more projects around our house the last couple of days....so stay tuned for some more homestead updates!

......For now Here is the latest pic of Joseph Harvey, he already seems so much stronger and more alert....He's 2 weeks old today!

::Hugs::