Archive for Junonia
Shells And Smiles
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I’ve been trying to remind myself not to ignore the BIVALVES in search of “CONES and JUNONES” (as my friend Rob calls them) so when I saw this BROAD PAPER COCKLE on Sanibel I smiled as big as the gulf. We just don’t have many in our collection so it’s nice to find something different.
Alicia (St Louis) and Lamont didn’t ignore the BIVALVES. They were enjoying every moment of collecting the riches on the beach of Sanibel’s east end with smiles from ear to ear.
Alicia was thrilled to collect SAILOR’S EARS, ARKS, DOSINIAS, YELLOW PRICKLY COCKLES and SCALLOPS.
The wrack line was loaded with all of the shells…
There were a few BABYS EARS mixed in there too…
Throughout the last couple of weeks I’ve run into shellers as crazy as I am about shelling. Rob was proudly wearing iLoveShelling Junonia and Lions Paw Club buttons he made. How cute! And so was his smile too.
Smiling Carol and Terry are showing off their shelling love too!
I saved the best for last with Janet and her huge smile showing off her first JUNONIA she found on her birthday in February. Congrats to you Janet!
Jubilant Juvenile Junonia
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How can you not feel jubilant after seeing this teeny tiny juvenile JUNONIA? I can only imagine jubilance Jean felt when she found it.
Over the weekend, I met Jean (Vermont) doing the Sit ‘n Sift on the huge shell pile at Blind Pass and she told me about a really purple FIGHTING CONCH she found earlier in the week. Before I knew it, she had gone to her cottage across the street to get that purple shell plus a few others. These are three gorgeous color variations of FIGHTING CONCHS she had brought back to the beach to show me.
Unfortunatley, you can’t really see just how purple the left CONCH is from this photo but maybe it’s because that orange is so vibrant in the middle one but trust me, it is really much more violet in person.
So after I took pictures of these CONCHS, she brought out another bag with this exquisite treasure that just about knocked me out of my flip flops…
Jean brought this cutie little JUNONIA back to the island to show a friend what she had found several years ago at Blind Pass Captiva. I’m so glad she did so we would get to see it too!
I asked her if she had seen the exhibit at the 2012 Sanibel Shell Show of the juvenile JUNONIAS that Weezie Sachs won a Red Ribbon for. She had seen it too!
The one she found is even smaller than both of those. Of course since we were on the beach, I didn’t have a coin to show a size comparison but you can see just how small this treasure is by looking at it next to her rings on her finger. Amazing! It’s so sweet and tiny!
It’s my new fave mini I’ve ever seen. Thank you so much for sharing your shells with us, Jean!
PS- I have to give a BIG shout out to Yvonne Greer! I would have missed this big shell pile at Blind Pass if it wasn’t for her contacting me to spread the shelling news. I hadn’t had a chance to get down to Blind Pass to check on the shells on my own so thank you Yvonne! We would have missed this baby JUNONIA and all the other goodies on my last post.
i Heart Captiva Island
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I love Captiva Island. I love that an artist made shell beach art like this piece at the entrance to Blind Pass beach. Beach artist, Robert from NJ, made it for his wife for Valentine’s Day. So sweet! Obviously, I haven’t been there in over a week so I missed it. Shame on me! But thankfully he has been grooming it to keep it clean and neat for a whole week for her.. and for us so we get to enjoy it as well.
I have another reason why “i Heart Captiva Island”….
Roma (MI) found a JUNONA!
She said it was one of the first shells she found this morning near the jetty rocks. It wasn’t completely whole but it is perfect to wrap for a JUNONIA necklace.
And that’s not it! Sara W found two (!) JUNONIAS at Blind Pass in the last week at Blind Pass as well. It’s so weird they are broken at the same exact spots but then again… perfect for necklaces! She posted this on iLoveShelling facebook page…
Jessica (NY) found a piece of JUONIA too. Maybe part of Roma’s or Sara’s?
Here’s Jessica with Steven and Kathryn this morning on the shell mound this morning…
John (NY) was working the pass side of the jetty and filled his shell bag full of FIGHTING CONCHS.
I had no idea the huge shell pile was back (and has been there for several days) and full of goodies! How did that happen and I didn’t hear a thing about it?? Mother Nature loves to play hide and seek with the seashells!
I found an assortment of treasures right away…
And a FLAT SCALLOP!
While I was checking out everybody’s finds and the big shell mound, Robert was collecting more PEN SHELLS for another shell art project. We look forward to your next master piece!
When Shelling Worlds Collide
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Ken found an extraordinary JUNONIA! I introduced you to Ken on my last post “Saving Another Sanderlin…Andy!“…. but remember I told you things were getting a little crazy? It’s because I was listening to Ken’s heartwarming story of his JUNONIA when all of our iLS worlds collided. Now that you’ve heard about Alyssa’s SANDERLING, I have to share the story of this extremely precious JUNONIA…
Ken’s sister Chris introduced the family to her passion of beach combing while on their annual visit to Sanibel. After being on the beach with Chris the first time, Ken’s wife Sue understood why her sister-in-law loved shelling so much and became hooked right away so she tried to get Ken to shell with her with no avail…..at first. This is Ken and Sue…
Ken thought shelling was more for people who just liked walking on the beach until…. you ready for this? Sue called Ken over to the computer one day to show him all the cool stuff Clark finds on the beach then she showed him Donnie’s shell posts on iLS too. An “Aha moment”! He started to get it. He finally realized it’s all about the treasure hunt! Now he’s a sheller and it all began with his sister Chris sharing her passion.
Donnie, Ken and Clark
Then Sue said to me… “Our family love love loves your website, including Ken’s youngest sister and our shelling buddy Chris. Sadly we lost her in August, at age 38 to ovarian cancer. The last time we saw her, I whispered in her ear that we would think of her every time we were shelling, and if there was a way for her to communicate that she was OK, she could guide us to a junonia. In the fall, her sisters sprinkled some of her ashes in the Gulf off the Lighthouse Point. On Tuesday morning, the fist day of Ken’s shelling vacation, he waded out in front of the Light House and found a beautiful junonia. The following morning he found an angel wing in the same spot. While it was a bit emotional when he first found it, we have been grinning from ear to ear since!
This is the same photo (Sue took the picture) I showed you on my last post when I said things were getting a little wild. Somehow, this photo makes a little more sense to me why all of our worlds were brought together at this very moment. Alyssa found another Sanderling while Mother Earth Marilyn was there again for the rescue….. then ME Marilyn was there to witness the heavenly JUNONIA being found….. when one of the reasons Ken was inspired to shell was because of Clark and Donnie…. then Karen shows up with her iLS shirt to explain how we all know each other… then Andrea joined us because it makes us realize all of these people are part of our iLoveShelling family. Bonded by the beach.
I Sooooo Dig Junonias
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That video was so dang exciting when I found that gargantuan TRUE TULIP the other day…… BUT WAIT!!!! Yes!!! I found a JUNONIA ……… AND I got it on video too! I was so excited to see those brown dots buried in the sand, I couldn’t help but grab at it so you’ll see three finger indentions in the sand. Then…. I stopped, took a breath to relax, then started rolling the video. As soon as I started talking to you guys, I started getting so excited again as I dug it up! 
Okay, it has a hole in it…but still!!! It’s the whole body! Hip Hip Hoooray! That video of the tulip was so long, I couldn’t add this (and I didnt want anyone to have a heart attack) so this is sort of Part 2. If you missed how amazing the rest of the morning was at the beach by the Sanibel pier and all of the wonderful comments on Part 1 …. CLICK HERE.
2011 Top 10 i Love Shelling Posts
Posted by: | CommentsMy Top 10 Most Fave Posts Of 2011!
Happy New Year’s Eve! It’s been an amazing year on the beach so I thought I’d look back on all of my favorite posts of 2011. I realized not all of my favorite days were completely about seashells. Some of my favorite days of 2011 have been about the wildlife I’ve experienced because of my obsession (ha!) passion for shelling. So I’m starting with #10 then counting down to my number ONE favorite post. I bet you guess what that will be- heehee. Click on each title or photo to read each post…
#10
Tips To Decorate Your Home with Seashells
#9
Seashells Swarm The Shell Fair
#8
Sorting Seashells For The Holidays
#7
#6
Top 10 Reasons Why I Love The Beach
#5
Road Trip For Seashells In The Florida Keys
#4
Splish Splash Sanibel Dolphins Having a Blast
#3
An Octopus Hatching Babies Video
#2
Roseate Spoonbills By Sanibel Causeway Video
#1 Favorite !!!!! (Of Course, right?!!!)
There’s A New Super Sheller In Town!
These were my favorites, what was your fave iLoveShelling post of 2011?
