2016 sea foam and shells on a beach

Happy 2016!

seashells and beach sea bean drift seed

It’s gonna be a shelltastic new year if the shells keep rolling in like they have done the last few days all along the beaches of SW Florida. From Sanibel’s Bowmans Beach to Blind Pass Captiva there were mounds of shells piling up then washing out with the tide. They come and go… come and go… come and go.

collecting seashells

We also did some island hopping around the out islands to find some very cool treasures. We don’t find the little BAY BEANS (on the bottom right in the next photo) very often so I’m always thrilled to find those cute little SEA BEANS.

seashells and beach sea bean drift seed

I love finding different types of seashells and beach bling… i Love everything there is about Shelling. Beach combing gets us out to the beaches to explore and learn about the ocean and wildlife that surrounds the sea… but it’s also a restoration of the soul, don’t you think? Walking the beach is like meditation- we get lost in the moment with the sounds of the waves, the warm sunshine on our skin, the salty breezes and the search for beautiful things. And there are so many beautiful things its hard to decide which beautiful things we need to hold and take with us. We can’t take the sun or the waves or the breezes with us although they are embedded in our minds. But there are the gifts from the sea like those sweet little WHELKS and that cute little BAY BEAN we want to put in our pockets so we never forget the glorious days on the beach. Hmmmm… so this made me think…. how many shells do I need to keep? Granted, I collect more than the average sheller because I have this blog in which I share my experiences so we can all learn the different variations of shells and bling that wash up around the world. I also craft with shells and give gifts of shells… but there’s a time to …errrrr… diet. I think I need to go on a shell collection “diet”. So…

My New Years Reshellution!! Here it is…. I will comb the beaches as I normally do but at the end of the day, I will choose only a few treasures to bring home with me- less than 8. I will take photos, then leave the rest or give them away on the beach. I’ve been doing this for a while but then there are days when I get too excited and forget to pick out my faves and put the rest back. From this handful of goodness, I chose to keep the dark HORSE CONCH (wow- what a great size!), that teenie tiny cutie little LACE MUREX, the NUTMEG, the OPERCULUM (under the NUTMEG), the middle dark LIGHTNING WHELK and the WORM SHELL (it’s hard to leave a WORMIE!). But from now on I have to remember that I don’t need to over indulge- less is more- that’s why I love the minis!

festive hand with sea shells

And plus… There have been so many beach combers on Sanibel lately, we don’t want to take away any of the treasures from anybody else. So many happy people finding shells. Happy New Year!

Shell collecting on Bowmans Beach Sanibel