Sanibel Below Bright Blue

First things first:  The little treasure I picked out of that area of shells yesterday, was the big bubble.  Most of you saw it.  As for all the others you saw in that particular photo, I either didn't take them for some reason or just plain didn't see them. :)  I may have to quit asking! LOL

Today the temperature ranged from 74 to 87 with 79% humidity and this island was covered by a bright blue sky. It was a nice evening for the beach. We went to resident access 5 on West Gulf Drive. There were shells to look through again, but I only picked out a few. I know there were plenty of shells of value if the time was taken to look further, and if more time was spent on the beach. There was really no one around, except for an umbrella up the beach a little way, so there may have been someone behind it, but that was all. It was breezy and cool enough to be very comfortable. The temperature is heading in the right direction, for me. :)

A Florida prickly cockle, Keyhole limpet,

and an Eastern auger



That's me in my Sanibel squat position. :)

Sanibel Seashell Search

It seemed as though we had a lot of rain today.  It started this morning and rained off and on until mid-afternoon.  But, the  report from this end of the island shows only 0.01" which is hard to believe, since we had water standing in the swale all day.  Another indication of excess rain, was that the newspaper was soaked all the way through and the plastic bag it was in when they tossed it in the driveway was also full of water.  Not a good sign. :)  The temperature was fairly pleasant today, going from 74 to 85 with 90% humidity.

I went to resident access 1 on West Gulf Drive late this afternoon.  First thing I noticed as I walked out onto the beach was the cool wind.  That was very pleasant!  The next thing I noticed

was a small rainbow. 

There were not many shells coming in.  But there were scattered shells left along the high tide line.  There were no foot prints along there, so I searched for a while and found a pocket full of small shells and I was happy with that.  Although, when I think about it, a couple of years ago, I never went to the beach without a shellbag in my pocket.  I usually went home with it full everytime.  It was just a very pleasant time to be out.  I only saw one family that walked past while I was there.

This is where I searched for shells.

There is a treasure here, can you find it?

Sanibel to the Mainland and Back

I don't have much to share with you today.  But, if you can stand another trip across the Sanibel Causeway to the mainland, then come along for the ride.  It was a nice day for a ride. :)

This afternoon we drove over to Cape Coral for an appointment.  It isn't far by car, but would be much quicker in by boat. 

The pictures below are not the greatest, some have reflections in them on the return trip due to the sun.  The clouds had a very different look as we drove back to the island.

 Our destination is in the vicinity of

the clump of clouds on the far left.

Crossing the Caloosahatchee River to Cape Coral
There are a couple of live cams in this area,
if your interested in taking a peak.

Kite Boarders were out in the bay,

just before we reached the causeway entrance.

Dave, who is a regular visitor to my blog, has asked a couple times, what I do with the seashells I find.  Follow this link to see what I've done with some of them.  They're pretty much all over the house. :) I really just like to take them out and look at them often and I've given many away.

Sanibel Sunday Sandspurs

It was another hot day, up to 90 degrees, with high humidity.  Early this afternoon I heard thunder, and looked out to see some dark clouds passing by.  After I realized it wasn't going to rain, I drove over to the end of Bailey Rd, thinking a short walk to look for Rose-petal Tellins would be nice.  It was nice, but produced no tellins.

I drove on over to the east end, Point Ybel.  I parked near the Sanibel Fishing Pier that overlooks San Carlos Bay.  From the parking area I took a shortcut using a small path that went through some bushes.  BIG mistake!  I was looking up at the clouds, of course, when I felt something sticking my feet.  I looked down to see stickers on my feet.  Ouch!  I hobbled on out to the sand where I started pulling them out.  It wasn't easy standing on one foot in the sand, especially if you are as off-balance as I am these days.  I got them pulled out of  one foot, then started on the next.  Yes, I did wonder how many people were looking at me!  But at that point I really didn't care.  You know what they say, 'walk a mile in my shoes, then laugh.'  When I finished with that foot and started to put it back in my flip flops, that's when I realized that the soft foam soles we completely covered with burrs.  Ugh!  My fingers were already sore from pulling them off my feet, so I had to find something else to use besides my bare fingers.  I gimped a few more steps down the beach carrying a flip and ouching with every step in the flop!  I found a small piece of driftwood, used it to scrape until I had all of the burrs off, put the flop on and took the flip off.  I just started to scrape the burrs and the stick broke!  I hobbled a little further until I found a shell big enough to finish the job.  By that time the idea of shelling had somehow lost it's splendor.  But, I believe the shelling gods tried to appease me, because I just took one more look down, before I turned to go, and there were two shells right in front of me.  I grabbed them and started back to the car, the LONG way, and never looked back!  But, I'm sure I was someone's entertainment for the day. :)

That whole fiasco should never have happened.  I know about Sandspurs, I've had them in my feet before, helped pick them out of other people's feet and pulled them out of grandchildren's clothing.  Those sticky things can even flatten a bicycle tire!  You would think that once would be enough for me; but nooooo! 

In case you don't know; Sandspurs are a grassy-type weed which produces spiny barbed seed-pods in the Fall. They thrive in well drained sandy soil, with lots of sunshine. So, where better than the dune area of a beach.  You might want to keep an eye out for them.

I felt like I really worked hard for these two shells. :)

A Button and a Melampus (coffee bean to me)