Time to Catch up! Happy New Year 2024!

 Hubby and I had a simple quiet Christmas this year, just the two of us, something I guess we should get used to as our kids are all grown and have families of their own! I hope you all had a good Christmas also.

We came back down to our paradise in early January, and we have been practicing retirement. I think I'm going to like it! I have been very busy, but fun busy, you know what I mean, right?? I've been crafting with the Shellcrafters and participating in small Craft shows at the Sanibel Community House, while crafting to get ready for our big Annual Shell Festival in March. My creativity is being challenged, but oh so fun.....if you know me, you know it's all about shells! 

I've been making Shell Trees which are a popular item

of course painting shells to hide around Sanibel, 

                                            

and making shadow boxes...

(I made the fish out of shells too! :)

I've been trying my best to make shell flowers, I'm not very good at that, 

we have some ladies in Sanibel Shellcrafters that make just beautiful flowers! In fact, one of these ladies and I taught a class on how to make a shadow box like you see here! What fun it was, I think our 'students' really enjoyed it! That may be something we will do on a regular basis starting soon!

I've turned my Santas into Gnomes since the Holidays are done! 

I've even volunteered in the Kitchen at the Community House for it's 97th Annual Gala!!! Lots of work, but oh so fun!!! 

Meanwhile, of course you know I've been walking the beach, this time of year is ideal for that, the tides are super low, and the sunrises are beautiful!!

This sunrise is actually at Fort Myers Beach, I'll never pass up a photo op, no matter where it is! 

Sanibel and Fort Myers Beach continue to improve daily after the devastation brought by Ian, in fact, the 'broken leg' on the lighthouse was replaced this week!

If you click on the picture here, you can see the wooden 'cast' on the bottom left, it now has a brand new leg! (Picture soon)

They are diligently working at replacing all the sand that washed out near the resorts during the storm, 

there were large gullys along the resort fronts (beachside).

It seems like weekly there is another business, either restaurant, resort or shop that is opening up. There are still many who had to walk away and sell, and some that had to be completely leveled and start again....but there is progress, great progress and a lot of hard work going on every where you look!

And me and my friends are still cruising the beaches at all hours of the day and night, creating some new adventure....there's life out there too!

One particular trip there were lots of nice live Lightning Whelks....

We've seen some BEAUTIFUL live True Tulips....like this guy on a Pen shell...if you look closely on the shell, see the ruffles below it? Those are actually Tulip egg casings! There will be hundreds of tiny tulip shells heading out with the next tide as it goes under water! To the left is the door, or operculum. It fits perfectly over the opening where the snail comes out, he will close that door for protection after all the eggs casings are completed!

I was lucky enough to find a few True tulips that weren't live! One of my favorites...I guess I say that about a lot of shells ! :)

Here's another one, another color, with 2 Shark's eyes! (LOL, another favorite)

We've found a lot of Pear Whelks this season, like the one on the left and nice dark Shiny Olives, and Jewel box pairs!

Jolene found a huge one the other day....

and of course, we're always happy to find Alphabet Cones....though they have been few and far between lately....just that much more special when we do, right?!

Cindy found this beautiful Sea Urchin the other morning, it was dead, but still had some of it's spines still intact! This guy is huge!!

This is always fun....Shells everywhere!!

of course, I couldn't resist this shark's eye, check out those colors!! They call this a 'Paul Newman' eye, because the center is a beautiful sky blue!

There is always something interesting out there....Cheri and I found this skull at the Lighthouse last week, we're not sure what it is from, but it was very interesting! I'll have our resident Veterinarian (Jess) check out these photos and see if she can figure out what it is!! Any Ideas??

Liz and I decided to hit the beach this morning for some Kittens paws to help resupply the crafts at the Community house! The beach between Sanibel and Captiva is usually the place to go...so we did!

We saw this fun Hermit Crab out on a sand bar!

Liz caught these beautiful pics of the sunrise across the islands

I was too busy picking up shells....she got that too!! ;)

We saw 2 Frigate birds in a battle with a seagull, something we have never seen before! Liz caught a couple of pics of the Frigates as they flew back out over the gulf...

We had good success, this should help with the Shortages of Kittens paws, I figure I'll be back there soon for more.....

The highlight of the morning for me was this beautiful Speckled Tellin!!

So, you are caught up! Mark your calendars for the 87th Annual Shell Festival at the Community House, March 7-9 if you are in the area! We are working hard to make it a wonderful experience for everyone and the Community!! I'll keep walking the beaches gathering supplies and adventures to share next time! 

Stay Tuned!!

::Shelllady Hugs::

One Final Post for 2023, One final Beach Walk, One Final Sunrise

 On Mondays I have Sanibel Shellcrafters. The traffic on the causeway has been terrible Monday mornings as the causeway is under construction, as well as many many businesses on the island since Hurricane Ian. There's just too many people, mostly construction folks trying to get into two lanes and on island in the mornings. So I've been cheating the last 2 weeks! I head out super early, beat the workers across the bridge, and walk the beach for a couple hours before Shellcrafters! Win-Win, right?? I would much rather enjoy the sunrise, shell a little and do a little bird watching before heading to the Community House. Who cares what the the tides are?? It's just a little early morning therapy! Much better than sitting in the car with lots of other folks trying to merge down to one lane.....much more relaxing to do it this way!!! This will be my last walk this year, we are heading north for Christmas, and then hopefully back soon!

So this morning I went, and it was just coming off of high tide, I didn't figure I would find much....I saw lots of life out there! several of these coveted Florida Horse Conchs.....

I thought I had taken more pictures, but I saw at least 4 of these.....

This guy, is also a Florida Horse Conch, with a large Hermit crab who has made it his home! His home was gorgeous, but I consider this 'live' as well, so I took his pic and bid him a good morning....

I saw many live True Tulips, Banded Tulips, and Apple Murex....wonderful to see. Apparently I didn't take any pictures. so sorry for that! But I did get a picture of my last sunrise from the beach, and as usual, it is glorious!

I have to apologize for not snapping more pictures, I guess I was 'in the moment'!

Here are my finds for the day, not bad for a short beach walk during high tide!?

On the left is a sea whip (I use these in crafts a lot), The top are Dosinia pair that I paint, below that are Paper figs, below that on the left are Lightning Whelks, to their right are true Tulips and then Horse Conchs, bottom right are Shark's eyes and Scallops.

I got to looking closely at the sea whip as I was getting ready to clean it, and there is a tiny Atlantic Winged Oyster attached to it....I don't think it's alive as the shell is barely open and I don't see anything in it....isn't that tiny?? You can compare it to the end of my finger.....I love it!!

I just wanted to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and a Happy Happy New Year, and I will see you here, next year!!!

Stay Tuned! 

::Shelllady Hugs::

A Wonderful Windy Day on Keewaydin Island

I'm back in Florida paradise, and have been since right after Thanksgiving. I have been spending most of my time getting ready for Christmas, Florida style! Baking, shopping, wrapping, crafting for Craft shows with the Sanibel Community House, and of course I had to do a little bit of shelling. This time of year is wonderful shelling, the tides are super low, and normally the winds push the shells up to the beach. I've been a few times, gotten a few treasures but nothing too much to brag about...yet.  Lynne, Liz and I did take a trip out to Keewaydin Island with Hemingway Water Shuttle ! I have been with this small, family owned business many times and will continue to do so....and you should too when you are down here! If you haven't been following the weather down here, we have some sort of a storm going on, LOTS of wind, heavy gusts at times, and today and tomorrow they are adding rain to that forecast! We worried that the trip would be canceled, but they just had us come a little earlier and as we were done, pulling up to the dock, the wind and a bit of rain started, perfect timing! We went out to the island the 'back way' to avoid the wind in the gulf, we tiptoed through the mangrove islands and saw this beautiful Eagle! (I love Eagles!) Liz got her phone out in time to snap this pic....

We actually saw 4 eagles today!!
 

So, how did we do?

This was my very first find!

Isn't it a beauty? It's the Florida state shell, a Horse Conch, and one of my favorites! 

Lynne's first find was an Alphabet Cone! SCORE! I really was glad to see that...I would like for her to enjoy herself and come again!

My next find was a first for me....though it is not perfect, and a little pitted, it has definitely been on my bucket list of things I want to find! It's called a Caribbean Vase Shell!!!!

I was tickled pink!!! If I don't find anything else, My day was made!!
 

I have many pictures so I'll just take you on the trip as I took pics....more seeing less talking! :)

an Olive, 2 Gaudy Nauticas, and a beautiful Florida Cone....

a HUGE worm shell, a Banded Tulip, a Pear Whelk at the top next to a Lacey, Lace Murex, a tiny Pear Whelk and another Gaudy!

There were lots of Live Large Lightning Whelks, so good to see!!!

Not a perfect Alphabet Cone, but so huge!, another Olive, tiny dusty cone, Juvenile Horse Conch, worm shell and Nice sized Kings Crown.

ANOTHER Alphie, a pretty Christmasy True Tulip, a Chocolate Alphabet Cone (dark colors) a Shark's eye, another worm shell and 2 Nutmegs...

more Olives, a Chocolate True Tulip and another small Gaudy.


There were many, many broken big shells all over the place....They were obviously old and well-worn!

We all picked our spot and shelled separately but compared notes frequently....

Lynne seemed to be doing just fine!

She found a Live Calico Clam, it was beautiful...

She put him back in the gulf after his photo op....

I think Liz was doing well too.....

She found this beautiful Neon Orange Horse Conch!!

It was a cloudy day, and somewhat windy, but the temperature was perfect, not too hot, not too cold! Perfect in my book!!! 

We bid Keewaydin a fond farewell with plans on another trip coming soon with our bags full!

Here's all the shells I picked up, I was somewhat of a shell snob, but there are just some I can't resist! I could've filled up all my shell bags with Fighting Conchs, banded tulips, lightning whelks...all sorts of treasures...so this is what I settled on for now....

not bad for 3 hours of shelling huh?! I'll take it!

 Here is the Vase shell after a bleach soak, they are normally very white....

I think Liz had a successful day as well....here are her favorites!

Lynne had a great time and has promised she will be coming back with us soon, no pictures from her this time as she is always busy and she and I have a Craft Show this weekend!! Busy Busy!!!

We will head back to Virginia for Christmas next week, then back down here after for some more adventures! 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your families! May you be blessed and celebrate the true reason of the season!!!

Stay Tuned!!

::Shelllady Hugs::