Every once in a while it’s necessary to step back and gain a
new perspective. ~Unknown
I'm sitting here on my deck in our place in Ft. Myers realizing that I must be pretty close to heaven! The shelling has not been very good this week, but the days so far have been great! I know they call me Shelllady because I am in love with the shells, but I enjoy the atmosphere and the beach itself just as much! Maybe I should change my name to Beachlady. Naw... it doesn't quite have the ring to it does it??
For those of you who are landlocked and can't enjoy a walk in the surf, I decided to bring our paradise to you!! So sit back and relax, feel the warm water on your feet, smell the salty air and listen to the waves breaking along the beach as it does at low tide....I just love that sound!!
I will keep searching for the shells, but I will also be enjoying everything else these wonderful beaches have to offer all at the same time! Enjoy!
Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer ~William S. Burroughs We have finally learned to relax and take it easy, it seems funny to me that it took nearly a week for all of us to do so, and we all hit that mode at the same time!!
Brad chose to read while in the pool
We teased him because he would walk around while reading, I just floated around the pool! :)
Hubby and I also love to sit on the beach
ahhhhhh just slow methodical waves
...Watching Ibis feed
.....and pelicans fish
...and Frigates soar!!
Hubby did it!! No, he didn't find a Junonia but he decided to take a seat anyway in the tidal pool to do some digging! He says he has done it before, but I don't remember it at all! I was very excited that he chose to 'get with the program' and be comfortable while doing the extreme shelling (notice the glove)! Unfortunately it didn't pay off as well today. The 'honey hole' we found yesterday ran out.
Jess picked up this pen shell that had an inhabitant with the shells
She decided to get creative with my waterproof camera...how about this for a cool shot?! See the crab?
Here he is from another view!
Jess also found this cool looking Brittle Star while digging
Hubby and Jess left the area because the shelling was not so good, but Brad and I were persistent and continued digging in the same area, and finally found another spot that seemed promising when we got chased in by a thunderstorm! Brad went back out after the storm, but it was soon dark and he couldn't find the exact same spot again. We are going to have to investigate this further tomorrow night, we have another couple of nights of really low tides, although they are getting into the night now! But we are determined! We ended up doing pretty well! Hubby found a BEAUTIFUL King's crown in a pen shell on his way back up the beach!! It's one of the prettiest I've seen and it's HUGE!!
Hubby and My finds
BEAUTIFUL King's crown
I got another Alphabet Cone!
Brad and Jess did well too!!
Pear Whelks, King's Crowns, and even a sand dollar and Sea Urchin!!
Brad also got more of his favorite nutmegs, tulips and an Alphabet cone!
...and lots of minis!
We had another great day in paradise! Thanks for coming along with us!
Releasing the pressure, it's good for the teapot and the water. Try it sometime. ~Jeb Dickerson
We spent the day again out on the beach in the chairs...under the umbrella....moving every few minutes toward the left in order to stay in the shade....the breeze was 'delicious' as hubby often calls it!!I didn't get up early, decided to sleep in a bit...
Today's lesson in relaxation is about clouds....they were forming all around us, but we never saw a drop of rain....I always say it rains everywhere, but Sanibel...you know that can't REALLY be true since Sanibel is so lush and green, but most of the time when it does rain (at least when we're here) it's during dinnertime or night time...or some other convenient time!! I love to watch the clouds transform and build against the beautiful blue sky!
Aren't they beautiful??
We went shelling last night around 6:00 and headed down to the tidal pool we found the night before...found some more teenies!!
Trying out my new closeup lens...works well, don't you think?
Pear Whelk
Teenie Weenie Alphabet Cone
Lace Murex Hubby found
Teenie tulips!
I decided to try out my zoom lens, this is how well it works!!
Without any zoom......
Click on the picture to enlarge it....see the tiny blue circle in the middle?
Could you see him?? How neat is that??
Dinner was at Gramma Dots for the world's best Fried Grouper and homemade chips, and popcorn shrimp Caesar salad!! ....with of course the world's best homemade key lime pie!! You have to try it if you are ever here!!
The time to relax is when you don't have time for it. ~Attributed to both Jim Goodwin and Sydney J. Harris
This is an actual photograph taken on Sanibel Island Florida on Sunday!!....this is the exact spot where we intend on spending our time for the next few days!! Hubby decided that he had not had a REAL vacation yet since he had to work most of the last trip down here, so we packed up our swim suits, bought some steaks on sale, threw them in the cooler (the steaks, not suits) and jumped on the Auto Train and here we are!! Even the trip down here was an adventure!! The train engine had some issues, and we never really could get up to speed....finally they had to bring in another engine, and away we went....we didn't even get out of Virginia until bedtime!!
We arrived in Florida about noon on Saturday, by the time we got our car...we left around 1:00, stopped for lunch and got on Sanibel around 5:00....we went immediately to our favorite Restaurant to see one of our favorite waitresses..Lori, and she greeted us both with a big hug!! I think she was really surprised to see us!! Okay, so now the relaxation officially begins!! We didn't even go out on the beach, we just picked up some groceries, unpacked, took showers and kicked back!!
Sanibel Sunset
I got up early yesterday (6:00) and took a look on the shore, there was nearly nothing out there....lots of small stuff, no 'twirls or whirls' just scallops, jewel boxes, kittens paws...but that's all fine....I just love the walk!
We brought our umbrella this time, since the supplies seem to be getting short at the condo, and setup early....and we went out there around 11:00 and stayed ALL DAY!! It was absolutely wonderful!! There was a cool breeze blowing off of the water that kept it so nice!!
I went out a couple of times and took a dip, and the water was crystal clear!! The lowest tide is in the evenings so we decided that since we would grill out, and mosey on down the beach that evening....! I took several pictures of the Sanibel birds...I could watch them forever!!!
These guys enjoyed the beach too!
This guy even stole a sip or two of someone's coke!!
We walked on out around 7:00 and begin walking toward the east, (I had gone west in the morning) besides, that's Junonia territory to the hubby since he got one near Sundial Resort a couple of years ago!....we looked up and saw a tidal pool that had formed....we headed over there with only an hour or so of daylight left and saw so many pretties!!! It's funny, you have to be in a hurry because it's getting dark, you want to cover more area, but you want to be thorough!! What a wonderful predicament to be in!!! We did quite well!! They are all very small....but I need small for this year's project!!
How nice is that!! Pretty good for not having good shelling huh!? The shells were 'embedded' in the sand...we will definitely be going back this evening!! What fun it was....and so relaxing!! That's the theme this time....RELAXATION!!
I know all of you need some relaxation of your own, so I thought I would share....sit back, turn up the volume, turn off the lights, adjust your desk fan so it blows right in your face and enjoy!!! Come back as often as you like!! Don't forget to rinse the sand off your feet!!
