Negative Low Tides Part 6

I've slowed down a bit on my blogging. I have to admit, these EARLY mornings have finally caught up with me, today was a kick back and relax day and making time to spend with my Valentine. 

Yesterday was the final negative low tide for a while, and it did not disappoint! 

When we first got out there, Cheri noticed this first beauty right along the wave break....we thought at first it was alive, but when she picked it up, it was just full of sand! Tell me this isn't a beauty of a Lightning Whelk!

I walked down the beach a little further, and saw the edge of this guy sticking out of the sand, in shallow water, another Lightning Whelk.

Not perfect, but I kept him!  Then in just a few minutes, Cheri found this beauty buried nearby! The third big Lightning Whelk of the day!!

We only had a couple of hours before I had to go to the Shellcrafters meeting and how nice was this to begin the day?!  We continued shelling, the day had already been a complete success!!

Another beautiful Orange Scallop...

 A Very spiny Jewel Box...

 A beautiful Nutmeg...

 ...and another Orange Scallop, this one was very tiny!

 I found this odd shaped Lettered Olive, notice the wrinkle near the bottom, and the large 'step' near the tip....and he was a bit on the fat side!!!

 Cheri found this amazing Florida Cone, it was so bright and had spots on it like some of the cones you see in the Caribbean!! It was gorgeous!! 

 I found ANOTHER tiny Orange Scallop...

 And this beautiful Orange and yellow one!

You might have trouble seeing this guy, it's another Spider Crab...this one has 2 huge barnacles on his back!!.... (It's not completely in focus, but if you click on it you can see him better!)

We had a Great morning shelling, and then I worked all day with the Shellcrafters getting ready for the Sanibel Shell Show! (That will have to be a post for another day)

A WHOLE day about Shells...what could be better? I think I'm in Heaven!!

The adventures will continue, stay tuned!!!

Happy Valentine's Day! <3 <3



::Shelllady Hugs::

A Bright and Colorful Day!

Cheri and I shelled a little differently today, I couldn't make the low tide this morning so we met up as the tides were coming in through High tide.  It was a BEAUTIFUL, clear day. And the shells were so colorful...Orange was the color of the day for these Scallops, and these pictures just do them justice. They were beautiful!

I did find this tiny maroon Top Shell, I've only found light gold ones in the past...

The water was so clear and a beautiful turquoise and green...

...and so clear, even on the shore in the rolling waves...

You had to be quick to snag the shells.

Cheri still has her Alphabet Cone luck, she found this little beauty pretty soon after we got there, alont with this perfect little Nutmeg!

Followed by this huge piece of a Lion's Paw!!!!!

 The back side was even orange!

I found a pretty orange Banded Tulip, a little Auger and what I believe is a tiny orange Nassa

This is called a Lady-in-waiting Venus Clam...I found 2 of these, a first for me!

 It has a beautiful purple stripe on the inside.

I also found this very tiny Dwarf Olive, so tiny!

and both sides of this Purplish Tagelus

Cheri scooped up this perfect Egg Cockle...

and this AMAZING Flat Scallop

and I stumbled across this beautiful little coral piece!

It was a great day! I like it when I have to break out the shell books to find the names of some of the shells I find, today there were several I had to look up!!

Tomorrow is the last Negative low tide, so we have got to check it out before I go to the Shellcrafter's meeting.... Stay tuned!

::Shelllady Hugs::

Negative Low Tides Part 5

The negative low tides will be over in the next couple of days, and unfortunately I won't be able to take advantage of it tomorrow because it's during church. I may be able to walk it a little bit on Monday before my Shell crafters meeting! So sad to see the ultra low tides go away. That's okay, I'm sure we will still have adventures!

This mornings low tides didn't produce many treasures, and since the wind directions changed again, they weren't nearly as low as yesterday.

Cheri was having fairly good luck in the shallows...a couple of tulips, apple murex, a beat up sharks eye and, as she calls it, a 'beater' cone, which means it's all beaten up and not a keeper....I'm not even sure she kept any of these...

I was checking out the beach and walking back and forth from the high tide line...apparently the surf overnight had been quite strong. Not only did it wash away most of the shells it created this huge wash line... Lots of white arks, but not much else.

I did find the colorful Pear Whelk, whose tail was a little beat up, but he came home with me anyway.

I couldn't resist this striped Coquina pair either...

I guess today was 'Jewel box pair' day....I found 3 colorful sets of those...

I also found a mini Top Shell...

There were a few live things to see also...like this HUGE Millipede Sea Star...

and this Awesome Lightning Whelk, they don't usually have such distinct points at the top..

I love to see live shark's eyes...this guy was very difficult to get a good picture of because he was under the surf, he was a beauty..

This monster sized hermit, was in a small Fighting Conch, I think it's time to find a bigger shell!

How cool is this...I also found this Tulip shell casing (not sure if it was a True Tulip or Banded Tulip casing) but if you look closely, you can see the tiny tulips are still in there....I put it back into the gulf hoping they will survive!

The highlight of the day was meeting some fellow "Shellinators" in person. The Shellinators is a facebook group of avid shellers that have a lot in common.  Some of us even have Sweatshirts! ;)  Cheri Hollis and I met through this group! Unfortunately she wasn't there when I ran into them so she is missing from this picture!

Left to right ( Jodi Hawn Geers, Karen Blackford, Tammy Rahn and Me!

(Left to right) Jodi Hawn Geers, Karen Blackford, Tammy Rahn, and me!! Karen Blackford and I go WAY back, though we have never met in person, she used to be a blogger, in fact, that is why I started blogging! I loved her blog and decided to try it myself! It was really nice visiting with these ladies, it truly felt like family!

Of course I cannot close without showing you another beautiful Sanibel Sunrise...

So stay tuned, Cheri and I will continue to have adventures and bring you along with us...I will be here for quite a while longer!

::Shelllady Hugs::