As Jack Frost nips at the noses of you folks in the NorthEast, I want to send you some warm thoughts. I wish I could send you the warm weather too but my photos from the Sanibel Lighthouse Beach from last night will have to do for now. I was walking the up on the beach in the wrack lines and found a few sweet minis…
 You may notice that something is missing from the photo above. Boohoo. For over 8 months, the photos of the shells in my hand were accompanied by my spiritual line bracelet that was given to me when I was blessed by a Buddhist Monk in Thailand. It fell off naturally… just like it was supposed to do.  I miss it already but it’s okay. I know that every day is a gift so I don’t need it to remind of that any more.
Anyhoo, let’s get back to the lighthouse! Clark was working the shelling backhoe in the water just off  the surf line. He was finding lots of cute minis as well but then he found something he had to have me see immediately. A juvie ALPHABET CONE!!! SUPER SHELLER CLARK  is back in action! We don’t find them this small very often so it’s always exciting to see how stinkin cute they are…
Then he started really looking for the minis. We saw the “coffee grounds” and “crumbles” which are normally where we find the WENTLETRAPS. See that dark area in the water that Clark is picking through? See how it looks like coffee grounds? That’s one clue we look for when we want to find wentles and minis…
We didn’t find many of the WENTLETRAPS but we did some a few. They aren’t shown in his hand, but he found these other cuties…
It was almost dark when he found another really cool LETTERED OLIVE. Well, I’m just assuming this is a LETTERED OLIVE. It had such an unusual coloration but the form is a bit different as well. It looks like a GOLDEN OLIVE from this side (and notice that darker color strip along the lip)….
But from the other side, it no longer looks like a GOLDEN with that one brown streak down the center. I think this guy just had some growth problems but managed to overcome most of its hurdles. I think it is extraordinarily beautiful so I’m tickled Clark found it.
So I hope our little walk on the beach thawed you for a few moments because…
I want you all warmed up for my exciting post on Monday! I know, it’s a tease. heehee But I think you’ll really like it and I’m not finished with the final touches so it will have to wait until Monday. Until then…. Sending warm weather with love.
Pam – The first thing I noticed about that photo was that your bracelet was gone! :-( Oh well, as it should be. Love the mini’s and missing Sanibel!
Just looking at that sunset and those mini’s warmed me up. Sending more warmth to those folks in the northeast who really got smacked by Nemo.
lol about the coffee grounds & crumbles! It’s the same over here for us on the ‘wrong’ side of Fla! I think it’s drift that rolls off of the reefs and picks up all of the lightweight shells in its path. Oh, and dollar bills. :)
Did your bracelet fall off in the surf? Wouldn’t that be great of one of your followers were to find it on the shore one day? Well, this is a good reason for you to return to Thailand, to have another visit with a Monk!
Thanks for the warm wishes, and I hope all affected Nasty Nemo’s snowicane get out from under soon.
Thanks for the “warm posting and great pics” :) Coming in a few weeks and can’t WAIT to be there again :) Sorry about your bracelet…I dont wear jewelry on the beach anymore. My jeweler ask me one time if I’d been “sandblasting” and showed me under a microscope what was happening to my rings…:( Thought I’d mention it as I see you wear yours…Really hope to meet you this year. Thanks again for warming us Northerners with your posts :)
Oooooo lovely minis! You know I love the minis and the micros! :)
Thank you! I really needed this post…the weather here was the precursor to the big one on the East Coast…it looks like a fairyland here with all the snow clinging to the trees for the past few days. But I sure can’t wait to get to Sanibel and start hunting me some minis. (and other goodies too) And yes, that shell is “stinkin’ cute’! LOL
Pam, thanks for the warming thoughts and photos. I’ll be there in a week, and will see you next Sunday for the shelling cruise! I’m so excited–I can’t wait! :-)
Thanks, Pam, I needed that little warm up after shoveling 10″ of snow today. Love the juvie cone! I’d LOVE to be able to go on your shelling cruise adventure, but can’t make it down there on any of the current dates. Might you consider adding some dates?
Yes, Lisa! Im working on adding dates for the rest of the summer. As soon as I can make them work, I will post them ASAP Thanks so much for asking!
Oh Pam, you are a tease! :-)
Thank you for the warm thoughts. I only had 6″ of snow to shovel today, so I was lucky. My best wishes to Susan H. and Donna R in NY and all of those further north.
I’m sorry to be missing your Sunday cruise, but we don’t arrive until Monday – 1 day too late!! I’m sure you, Gail and the others will have a wonderful time. We are staying for 2 weeks so hopefully I will run across some of my shelling sisters who will be there at the same time. In the mean time, I’ll dream of the warmth of Sanibel and all the shells…..
I CANNOT WAIT, i actually started packing today!!
I will be there the 23rd fora week! I’m beside myself with excitement!
We just left Sanibel today to go back home. I am so sad tonite and your post really helped me out!! Thanks. :-0
I saw the mini keyhole limpet…I am glad you told Bill and I what his was because I just thought it was a deformed shell of some kind. I did see you bracelet gone but you had it for a long time and I noticed it in most of your pictures. Getting very excited to go shelling the end of March. Does anything special go on there for Easter? It will be different being away from home on Easter but what better place could we be right? See you soon
We are often times there on Easter and the only thing of noticed is that most restaurants and of course stores, are closed. So I’d also like to hear if there is anything going on that I’ve missed.
Thanks, Pam. We only got about 14 inches of snow here, but I feel terrible for the folks in CT and Massachusett who got 2 feet plus!! So hard to think of folks being wihout heat now, I hear warmer weathers coming so that should melt the snow and help repair crews get things restored.
In Manhattan we got 11 inches of snow. Yes, this coming week should have daytime highs above 40, so that should melt all the snow quite quickly! :)
As I was scanning your pictures and thinking or wondering if you still had you string I saw your comment. Up here in Ontario at least here we only got 6 to 8 inches of the white stuff. Hoping every one from the northern states to our eastern provinces stay warm.
Really nice even for those of us here in heaven…. havent had much water time, working hard, but this made me happy just seeing the minis…. Thank you!!!
Hi Pam – yours is the first e-mail I open! Can’t wait to read Monday’s post. My nieces are on their way here (from Chicago) as I write this. Looking forward to a beach day on Sanibel this week!
Oh my goodness!! I recognized that little juvie Alphabet Cone and thought, now what are the odds that 2 PEOPLE would find one on light house beach on the evening of the 8th?! That was you! I was right down from you guys when Clark found it and you kept saying how cute it was. You guys showed it to me, and to think I was going to ask you if you read this blog! Lol. I was the one in the white cover up, & dark pigtails. Nice to meet you guys! I read this blog all the time (still do!) from cold PA, and used to dream of coming down for another trip. (We’ve been coming to Sanibel since I was 5. Been shelling ever since!) My husband and I just bought a condo 5 mins. From the causeway in Ft. Myers, so I’m sure I’ll be running into you guys often! :0) I’m glad you guys said hello!
OMG yes, Jennifer! You were right there when I was “hollerin'” about that little cone, weren’t you! It was nice to meet you so next time we can formally meet again. heehee
Thank you, I needed that. It was 10 degrees when I awoke, 14 degrees now.
Thank you for sharing the warmth and serenity of Sanibel this Sunday morning. We’re surprised to have rain instead of snow in Iowa. The minis are darling! So sorry about your bracelet. I once lost my favorite prescription sunglasses to a big wave when I reached for a shell in knee deep water. We looked and looked but I couldn’t see much without them. We decided some dolphin was enjoying being fashionable.
You find minis and I find micros…micro shells are 1/4 inch or less….most of my micros are 1/8 inch….Some are the size of a grain of sand…My daughter brings me sand from the wrack line from any beach she walks…Thailand, the Carribean Islands and more…I collect sand from around the world..and in looking at the sand with a magnifier, I found micros….What a lovely and unexpected surprise…Never knew they were there…even after collecting shells for over 60 years…So….this is a whole new world of shell collecting for me…and I love it…
You are right, micros ARE another world and I’ve been meaning to a post on the micros too but the time just slips by. I even met a guy at the Sarasota Shell Show that was quite the expert on micros. I’ll include him whenever I get to do a post on micros. I love it- the more I talk about shells, the more I learn.
Just in case you didn’t know–the Travel page of today’s Atlanta Journal- Constitution has an article on Sanibel and the address for your wonderful website under “Tips to maximize your shelling.” !!!!
I didn’t know! Wow! Thanks so much for letting me know. I looked for it online but didn’t find it- they may delay it for a day on those type articles. I look for it tomorrow. Thanks Again!!!!
I think we used to have the Golden Olives down here, but I haven’t seen any in a while…. Maybe I’m mistaken.
Love seeing the minis, and love the juvie cone! I’m a little slow but meant to tell you how much I enjoyed your post on the Sarasota Shell Show too. Now I’m trying to figure out a way to come down next year and stay from the start of that show through the 1st weekend of March for the Sanibel Shell Show, for true shell nirvana! I can dream, at least! Thanks so much for the beautiful photos, again!!!
I’ve been trying to leave a comment with you for ages and something always gets in the way!!! Your trip looked stunning! It’s funny, we’re planning a trip to the outer islands so when I saw your post I about fell out of my chair!!!
Hugs and love—Lizbeth
Hi Pam, glad to hear that you are finding shells at the Lighthouse. I just returned from 16 days on Sanibel and went to the Lighthouse four times at different tides. I didn’t find any shells on the beach at the water line and none live in the water. I was worried that the refurbishing of the beach had killed them.
I found a perfect 1 1/4″ Wentletrap at West Gulf and after showing it to friends on the beach didn’t seat my cup into my fanny pack properly and lost it!!! As someone said, the sea giveth and taketh away. I found some shells that look like wentletraps but different and darker. I have to do some research. Sorry I missed you on the beach this year. I told everyone I met about your website and even the limo driver to the airport is now a viewer.
It had been a while since we visited the lighthouse too and at first, I was a little disappointed too at the amount of shells and it still looked like there was a little residue from red tide… but then after finding a few wentles and those keyhole limpets, I was recharged. That’s when I heard Clark call my name… the juvie alphie! talk about recharging!
Sorry I missed you too, MEM!
Maybe your dark wentle-look-alikes are fly speck ceriths? http://www.iloveshelling.com/blog/2011/10/16/weekend-in-paradise/
Thanks, I will look into the fly-speck ceriths.