Archive for Bittersweet
Seashells Sighting While Fish Are Biting
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So Exciting! When I arrived at Blind Pass Captiva yesterday morning, I saw that guy catch a fish while everybody else was wallowing in the joy of the big shell pile. Happiness.
Chris (Calgary, Canada) found this very big WENTLETRAP right there! I was thinking the same thing as you are right now….. a WENTLETRAP at Blind Pass? I don’t see many people find them right there so that was a really good find in my book.
His daughter Kyla found a piece of JUNONIA. Any piece is a good piece!
My friends Courtney and Eileen (Sanibel) were having a blast soaking in this gorgeous day with the bonus of a huge shell pile…
Eileen found this very colorful FLAT SCALLOP … but hold on… I know you will notice that tattoo just like I did so I’ll tell you what it “says”. It’s her mother’s signature. Is she cool, or what? She is definitely a piece of art work!
Courtney found my favorite shell of the day.
I hope yall dont think I’m crazy but it’s an awesome ATLANTIC WING OYSTER with both sides still attached.
Look at the inside of this shell…it’s like opening up a beautiful pearl!
I found lots of The Sanibel Six shells but only one ALPHABET CONE. It has this crazy pointy hat on top! I know it’s old and worn but I still really like it.
Barbara was doing an excellent job of the Sit ‘n Sift filling up her kitchen strainer. So smart! One less step when she gets home to clean them. 
There were lots of CHESTNUT TURBANS mixed in with WHELKS and FIGHTING CONCHS…
A pretty BITTERSWEET CLAM!
And CORAL…
I think there was only about 5 shellers when I got the “mound” but within an hour, it was a ShellFest!
I’ve got several videos so I here’s the first one. Happy Weekend!
Tam Tam Finds A Queen Conch On Sanibel
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A juvenile QUEEN CONCH is a very rare find on Sanibel…. and “our ” Tammy found one!!! If you’ve ever read the comments on any of my posts, her name is “Tam Tam From Michigan” and I finally got to meet her (in real life person!) this weekend on Sanibel and this was the first thing she showed me.
A juvenile QUEEN CONCH! You can find them in the Bahamas and The Florida Keys but it’s not often I hear of anybody finding one here. I’m so happy for her!
Like Donnie, she might be a little shell crazy too. She looooves shells so much, she even named her daughter Shell. This is Shell sittin ‘n siftin on a big pile off West Gulf Drive near Shalimar. Or maybe I should say… this is Shell shelling….
She told me that “Tammy” means “Palm Tree” in another language then showed me her new tattoo…
So of course since her daughter’s name is Shell and her name means Palm Tree…so she looves Sanibel and so do her girlfriends! They all love shelling Sanibel. This is Claudette (FL), Shell, Barb (VA),Tam Tam, Karen, Tracy (FL). You’ve met Claudette and Karen here before CLICK HERE and Karen happens to be Tam Tam’s cousin. The world is getting smaller, isn’t it? How cute are they with their i Love Shelling tee!!!
And the shelling sistahs can phoon too…. LOL…
Here are some of the other fabulous treasures Tam Tam found…
And even more…
Check this out… it’s an imprint (fossil, it apprears) of seashells formed in some sort of rock (Clark thinks it is limestone).
The cousins were having great luck! Karen found this GOLDEN OLIVE…
She and Claudette were finding lots of BITTERSWEETS on the beach too. I have found a few lately and I always feel like I’ve found quite a treasure when I see them. They are just so colorful!
Congrats again Tam Tam! Your QUEEN CONCH is quite the catch and I feel so lucky too to finally get to meet you and Shell. Oh and I want to share a poem again that Tammy (Tam Tam) wrote. I posted My Sweet Sanibel on May 12, 2010. CLICK HERE to enjoy!
The Beach is Always Worth The Trip
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I had to pull the car over on one of the causeway islands last night on my way back to Sanibel because the sunset was so pretty. It always makes running errands so much more enjoyable when I can time it to return to the island at sunset. Ahhhh. Makes it worth it.
I also thought it was worth the trip to Blind Pass today to see if the shells were starting to show up again. To me, the shells have seemed a little scarce there lately for some reason. We’ve just had so much sand filling in again so I’ve been hoping for some good west winds to bring back the shells. I’m seeing more showing up now! Especially BITTERSWEETS. I saw quite a few today!
I think this is the first BABY’S EAR that I’ve ever found at Blind Pass Sanibel. After I found this one, I found one more in the same area mixed in with the same type Beach Bling.
Leo from Chicago showed me some cool live creatures he found before he set the free in the water.
This is a live PURPLE SEA URCHIN hanging on to a live PEN SHELL. See how the PEN SHELL is partly opened? This is how Sandy The Sanderling got in trouble by putting her beak in there. It slammed shut on her beak and wouldn’t let go. Ouch! If you missed that story click HERE.
This wrack line looks like a good sign to me for the next few days.
I didn’t find loads of shells today but it was just good to get back on the beach on this beautiful day. I like quality these days over quantity. My BITTERSWEETS and BABY’S EARS made my day soooo much better.
I’m getting back into my routine so I’ll be out tomorrow again to find out if there are any other shell spots hiding out there. Have you been finding great shells lately?
I want to thank you guys again for your feedback on my new i Love Shelling Shop. I’ll continue to add designs and merchandise so you can stay closer to Sanibel and we all can show off our love for shelling.
The Alphabet On A Cone Shell
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Very Large Alphabet Cone
Holy Spelling Bee, Batman! This is the largest ALPHABET CONE I’ve ever seen come off the beach. It’s so big….I’m sure this one has the whole alphabet….. twice …on this beauty (heehee).
Eileen's Alphabet cone
I met Eileen and Rob coming off the beach on Sanibel’s side of Blind Pass (Turner Beach) and Eileen told me she found this humongo ALPHABET out in the water where the beach is forming a little sand tip (I’ll show you a picture of where in a minute) early this morning. As you can see in the first picture, it has some gunk still on it but I think this baby will clean up easily with a little tooth brush action using a little bleach and water. If they send pictures after its cleaned up (my fingers are crossed), I’ll share them with you as well.
Eileen and Rob (PA)
Eileen and Rob have a Sanibel shelling trip planned for March but Rob told me he couldn’t wait another month since Eileen has been watching the happenings on the beaches and talking about my blog every day (really, he said that ! …blush… blush.. I’m so flattered!) so he booked another trip this month to give to Eileen for Valentine’s Day. Awwww. What a Valentine! And then to find this awesome shell… wow… doesn’t get much better than that.
Collecting seashells on the "tip" of Sanibel's Blind Pass
This is where Eileen found her ALPHABET CONE. I took this photo from the Sanibel side looking towards Captiva. You can see a tiny piece of the jetty of Captiva on furthest right side of the horizon. While I was there I met some other shelling sisters!
Ann (Minnesota)
Ann was so sweet to run back to her car after we met to bring me some of her handmade aromatherapy “melts”. Thank you, Ann, they smell sooo good! Here are her seashell finds and while you check out her shells, check out her nails too..nice….
Ann's handful of shells
Another shelling sister having a great time working the surf in the shallow tip.
Teresa (Tennessee)
Then two more joined us so I took a photo of the whole gang. They all hang out with us on iLoveShelling- What a fun morning!
Mary, Debbie, Teresa and Ann
I think I did more socializing than shelling (shellers are so darn nice!) on the Sanibel side so I didn’t get many shell photos but I did get some shots from the Captiva side… where I started my day. I didn’t find anything exceptional like Eileen, but I enjoyed what I found.
Kitten's Paws everywhere!
I found several Bittersweets
Lots of Calico Clams
All of these shells were found on the left side of the jetty on Captiva. The long sand bar that we saw last month is gone but there is a smaller sand bar that has formed at the end of the jetty. I didn’t find all of these shells together in the photo below but I did find them all within 10 minutes.
Murex, conchs, an olive and a bittersweet
In the photo below, this is what the other side of the jetty looked like today. This is where I filmed the Sit N Sifters last week. Can you believe it? Now….. zip, zilch, zero shells.
No shells, only a fisherman
So many of you are keeping up with the changes at Blind Pass.. so I took another short video this time from the Blind Pass bridge. When I pan over to the left side (the Sanibel side), I zoomed to the furthest sand tip where Eileen found her cone and where I met all of my new shelling sisters. I actually took this before I met them all but seeing alot of shelling going on out there, I knew it was a hot spot. 
If you want a little more info on the history of the Blind Pass dredging, read this article To Dredge or Not To Dredge
