Archive for November, 2012
Shifting Shells of Blind Pass Captiva
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The shells at Blind Pass Captiva are shifting around so much, it’s going to be difficult to keep you up to date. The shells (BITTERSWEETS, FLORIDA CONES, AUGERS, a JEWELBOX, a CERITH and some CORAL) in the above photo are shells I found right before I found my QUEEN HELMET I showed you on my last post. See how many shells had washed up?
I had mentioned in my last video that Eileen had found BITTERSWEETS (one of her faves) too but she also found an awesome HORSE CONCH candy, NUTMEG, CORAL, a NUTMEG and this is just one of many bright orange CALICO SCALLOPS.
We also witnessed Rob finding an ALPHABET CONE… but if you look back at the video (CLICK HERE) at around 30 seconds into the movie you can see Rob sift some shells in his shelling backhoe then two bigger shells roll back towards his feet. I think the one closest to his foot is this ALPHABET CONE he showed us. Ha! Crazy, huh?
Okay, so those photos and video were from 2 days ago but I went back yesterday at low tide again to see what else may have washed up, the shells were just about gone.
See? Every day is different on our beaches so you have to enjoy everything you see because it might not be there tomorrow. But if all the shells are gone, you have to move on and hunt other places. I did that very thing… I moved on and found their new hiding place…. about a 1/2 mile down the beach on the other side of the jetty rocks. I took this photo to show you how far down on the beach from the jetty rocks I found them…
And this is what I found…
Joe from Chicago scored with this big awesome LIGHTNING WHELK…
And oodles and caboodles of goodies…
Teri and Debbie from Indiana were having a field day too…
Fabulous finds Teri!
And heeeeere comes Johnnie!
She found those sweet BITTERSWEETS as well along with more marvelous minis.
This is the beauty of shelling… you just never know where the shells are going to turn up so it’s always a treasure hunt. So who knows! Today, the shell pile could be back again at the jetty rocks like it was 2 days ago. Speaking of which, I took another little video just before I found my QUEENS HELMET (Have you noticed I keep slipping that in? heehee. I’m still thrilled!) so I might as well show you that because the morning was absolute peace. Have a peaceful day!
PS- That would be paint all over my hand in the vid. haha I’ve been painting furniture (obviously white) then I started on painting shells for the upcoming Captiva Holiday Golf Cart Parade we will be in and I’m not so neat so I ALWAYS get as much paint on me as I do my project.
Queen For The Day!
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Why such a crazy face? This is the face of pure unadulterated joy and excitement of finding a seashell….but not just any ordinary seashell. I found a QUEEN HELMET!!!
It’s perfect! I can’t believe it! This is a rare find in our area. I have never found a QUEEN HELMET before on Sanibel or Captiva and I can’t remember ever finding another one before, for that matter. But I did this morning at Blind Pass Captiva’s low tide level -0.3.
Notice the beach is built up again on the pass side of the jetty rocks. I think Blind Pass changes more often than Justin Bieber changes his Twitter stats. LOL Okay, yes, I’m still punchy! Let’s get back to the QUEEN HELMET… I took this photo before I picked it up to show you how it was laying in the pile of shells.
Would you have noticed it? Here’s a closer view of how it was nested amongst so many sweet KITTEN’S PAWS.
I have to tell you, this took great restraint to leave it sitting there to take a photo AND video before picking it up to see if it was whole. I still can’t believe I was able to do it but I was like that little QUEEN HELMET hanging with her KITTEN PAW friends. I was amongst friends as well. Our friends Eileen and Rob just arrived in Sanibel yesterday and were at Blind Pass with me this morning so I didn’t feel like I had to snatch it up before anybody else would get it. Okay, not that we aren’t ALL friends out there on the beach… LOL… but I think you know what I mean about those days when the waves of shells are crashing on the beach and whoever snags the shell off the pile first is the rightful owner (shelling 101 
). So here’s the video I shot so you can see exactly where we were when I found my QUEEN HELMET!
I know my vid was a little blurry (like my mind after I found it) so here are some still shots so you will know what to look for too…
This is the photo I took right before I found my shell so I’m sure it is sitting in this pile somewhere.
Okay, so after I wrote that last sentence, I had to know… Could I find that shell in this pile? It’s like playing Where’s Waldo. LOL Can you find it? OMG I think I did but it’s not clear… but it’s got to be it! What do you think?
Yes, we found other goodies as well (as you saw, Rob found an ALPHABET CONE right before our video eyes!) but I’ve run out of time and I want to take advantage of being “Queen for the Day” so I’ll show you more pics tomorrow. Have a shell of a day!
CShells Sees Seashells By The Seashore
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CShells sees seashells by the seashore. She snagged this sweet LIONS PAW scallop shell with her seashell sifter when she saw it on Sanibel this week.
CShells really slayed Sanibel when husband Richard reaped rewards of reeling in a remarkable SCOTCH RONNET (Okay, it’s a BONNET, but it’s funnier with the “r” ! Just go with it )
Richard recognized its round richness in the rise of the wrack line.
Congratshellations Richard and CShells! You scored the shells!
PS- HAPPY HOLIDAY SALE!
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Caboodle of Conchs
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While showing the collection of CONES we found at Little Hickory, you saw a a caboodle of CONCHS scattered along the beach at low tide too but that was only skimming the surface. Do a little CYBER SHELLING in the photo above (just click on it twice to enlarge) to see just how many FIGHTING CONCHS were piled together then check out the video below. Unbelievable. A little overwhelming…. but so much fun to see. 
Candy Cornucopia Of Giving Thanks
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On this Thanksgiving week, I’d like to give thanks to each and every one of you who have touched my life by hanging out with me here at iLoveShelling. I’m grateful to you for making me feel a part of your lives in this amazing community we’ve created together to share our passion for shelling.
Just in case you are a newbie here, my “harvest” scene is filled with some of the beautiful HORSE CONCH shells Clark and I have collected through out the years on Sanibel. The smaller horsies are orange with a white tip which look just like little candy corns to me… hence the name of this post “Candy Cornucopia”. Get It? Ha!
Anyhoo, I promised I’d show you a few low tide shells that we found at Little Hickory. You are right Kim, it’s been a Cone-acopia (Ha!) lately and Little Hickory didn’t disappoint. See how to find half buried cones at low tide in my next video.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you again and enjoy the video!
Little Hickory Sunset Seashells
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On our way back to Sanibel from a day in Naples, we couldn’t resist stopping to see sunset at Little Hickory Beach in Bonita Beach.
Oooooh I’m so glad we did! Not only did we see a gorgeous sunset, but we spotted a shell or two.
Then another!
The further I walked the more I saw!
That’s when I met locals Michael (North Ft Myers) and Cheri (Lehigh) who were collecting some of these gorgeous shells.
Then Michael plucked this awesome ALPHABET CONE out of his shell bag!
Wait! The sun was going down too quickly! We wanted to shell some more after seeing that CONE! Hmmmmm… but low tide would be in the morning. Ha! Yes, you guessed it. Clark and I went back at low tide and found a treasure trove of shells. Weeeee! But I’m so sorry! I’ll have to show you those tomorrow since there is so much to do to get ready for Thanksgiving holiday. FYI- If you are in the area and not having much luck finding shells, it’s only a 40 minute drive from Sanibel (if you don’t get caught up in the traffic on Ft Myers Beach). There’s a gazillion FIGHTING CONCHS! For more info on Little Hickory, check out my other posts HERE.
