Painted Shells

Posted by pam on Apr 30, 2010 in Sunray Venus | 6 comments

Painted seashell by Iniyaal of art, beauty and society

Now we know what we can do with all of those bleached out SUNRAY VENUS CLAMS, COCKLES, large SCALLOPS and the rest of those shells that are plentiful on our beaches. Paint them like Iniyaal of  Art, Beauty and Society does! I was so excited to see this on one of my favorite blogs I follow Completely Coastal – I had to share. You have to see the CLAMS Maya found on Daily Vitamin Sea for Christmas ornaments as well. I get so much inspiration from women like this.

“Seashells are one of nature’s most fascinating creations. Their colours, sizes, shapes and textures are so perfect that every shell is a piece of art, exquisitely perfect in all details.”      Quote by Iniyaal of Art, Beauty and Society

Signs for Good Shelling

Posted by pam on Apr 29, 2010 in Blind Pass, Tulip | 2 comments

Diane (Jacksonville, FL)

Diane told me she had a great day finding WHELK and OLIVES at Blind pass on Wednesday but was still excited that she found a JUNONIA on the beach in front of Jensen’s on the Gulf this past October.

Mary (Warsaw, VA)

Mary found 4 ALPHABET CONES in the surf in front of Sanibel Inn this week and she was at Blind Pass on Tuesday when the waves were filled with shells and piling up on the beach.

Mary and Dick's loot for the day

Mary and Dick sent this picture of the shells they found yesterday at the lighthouse (look at all of those WENTLETRAPS!). Mary said they should have updated the photo because their best find was a 4″ TRUE TULIP. The shelling is finally really good again with the wind change so let’s keep our fingers crossed for this weekend.

When Dolphins Attack! (video)

Posted by pam on Apr 28, 2010 in Dolphin, Dolphin video, Lighthouse, Sanibel, Video | 15 comments

I’ve talked about those crazy DOLPHINS at the lighthouse beach on Sanibel but I finally got some good video of them speeding through the water to catch their meal of tiny fish (ok, I’m assuming “tiny fish” since the water wasn’t as clear as it was last week). At first they looked like sharks with only their dorsal fin showing above water but no doubt, they are dolphins. You’ll see how close they got to Rob visiting from New Hampshire. He got great pictures of his family just several feet from a dolphin. We were out there filming this about 7pm last night at a very low tide and full moon.

This is a thank you for my friend Lisa who is ccrrraaazy about dolphins…..she just signed up to subscribe to my posts through an email reminder . If you also want to have an email sent to you when I put up a new post, click on the link on the top right of this page.

Dolphin at Sanibel lighthouse

Full Moon Tweezers

Posted by pam on Apr 27, 2010 in Dolphin, Lighthouse, Sanibel, Wentletrap | 6 comments

Sanibel full moon low tide

As soon as I got on the beach this afternoon and saw that beautiful low tide that left piles of mini shells, I thought of Sanibel Sister Linda and Sanibel Sister Judith. I met them last year on the beach because I couldn’t resist asking them about their big long tweezers they used for picking up shells. I knew they were visiting Sanibel this week but didn’t know if I would recognize them….until I saw those big ole tweezers plucking at the shells. There they were! The full moon low tide was just perfect for “tweezing” their favorite shells… WENTLETRAPS and all of the minis. They both collect their shells to make shells boxes, mirrors and other gift items to sell in their shop Leonora Moss Floral Gatherings and Keepsakes. Good to see you and I’m so happy you both had  great shelling day.

Sanibel Sisters Linda and Judith (that's the moon behind them!)

Crazy dolphin again near the shoreline

This picture of the dolphin I took this afternoon is a little preview of the video I’ll post tomorrow. He rushes to the beach in a feeding frenzy!  Ps- The Shelling Sisters said that they heard the shelling was great today at Blind Pass. I’ll be there tomorrow to check it out.

Cayo Costa Camping

Posted by pam on Apr 26, 2010 in Baby's Ear, Cayo Costa, Sand Dollar, Shark's Teeth, Sunray Venus, Urchin | 8 comments

Whew, I survived a camping/shelling trip with the girls on the island of Cayo Costa this past weekend. We were lucky enough to have a nice cool breeze so we didn’t roast in our cabin and to keep away the bugs. Yep, I said “cabin”….. we didn’t have to pitch a tent. We had 6 girls, 5 lanterns, 4 coolers, 3 fires (intentional), 2 boats (the only way to get there) and 1 heck of a good time. We didn’t bring back full buckets of shells but we did find some treasures. Our best finds…Diane and I found BABY’S EARS , Lisa and Rhonda found SAND DOLLARS, Beth found URCHINS, and Chris found OLIVES. There were lots of FIGHTING CONCHS, SUNRAY VENUS CLAMS, and COCKLES to go around too.

We met Bob and Terry from Cape Coral who were finding tons of SHARK’S TEETH. They gave us tips on finding them….look for small black triangles. I found one! Thanks, Bob and Terry!