I may not have collected oodles of empty shells from my stroll along the beach at Gulfside City Park but I had a very merry walk seeing hundreds of very merry live MOLLUSKS  thankful to have the shells on their very merry backs.
I continued my very merry stroll seeing very merry ROYAL TERNS basking in the very merry sun….
I’d love to take you on this very merry (and very silly) shelling stroll if you’d like to see these very merry creatures and bask in the very merry sun with me.  Enjoy the very merry video….
Okay…. On another note…. I can’t stand keeping this a secret one more minute.  There’s one more reason we have been very merry (and very busy) this holiday season.
We have a new baby in the house!
Our sweet Dustie has a new little brother…. 6 month old Rustie (Rusty, RustBall, RustBucket, the Rusters, Rustoleum). Clark wanted a kittie for Christmas so we went to the Lee County Animal Services and Rustie picked Clark… but unfortunately he’s a little sick. Awwwww… it’s that kennel krud. He’s on meds and still doesn’t feel all that great but the our vet says he’ll be just fine. Our new little RustBucket looooves to snuggle so we are enjoying doing everything we can to make him comfortable and happy.
And of course since he’s a Rambo now… he loves shelling too!
 Join me on our next iLoveShelling Adventure January 3 or January 8! CLICK HERE for more info…
PS- I’m updating my gallery every day- check it out!
So happy you chose to rescue a kitty!! They alwayscome out of the “pound” with nasty respiratory problems.Little Rustie should be just fine as the vet said. We have been down that road!! Thankfully it doesn’t look like he’s too worse for it. He’s a lucky guy! And he will learn all about having a shelliscious life!! Merry Christmas to you all!!!
I’m so happy for you that you got a new baby for Christmas! And the fact that he’s a rescue cat makes it even better (can you tell, I volunteer at a shelter).
Shelter kitties are so appreciative when they get a forever home. I hope your Dusty and Rusty become great friends!
So happy you got a new cutie for Christmas and one that loves to snuggle is just the best! Hope Rustyshell feels better soon!
Oh yeah…forgot to say…song was way to brief!!
Congrats on your new furrkid! And a special thanks for saving a life! :)
Glad you have a new baby to love…
Oh guys I am so thrilled for you. It’s great to see you rescued of course! You guys have so much love to share for our 4 legged creatures. Rusty sure found a great home of all homes!! So sweet! Congrats.
Mary Ann
East Granby. CT
What a cutie pie!! The kitty and you in the video! Love it! Merry Christmas dear Rambos! Sherri from cold & snowy MN
Congratulations on the new baby. We had an orange cat one time named Rustie-it was a female which is unusual. We also had a rescue that was sick when we first got him. He did get better, it just took patience and time. Loved the video! Have a very Merry Shelling Christmas. Pat
Merry Christmas Pam to you and your family! I will be coming back in August again and hope to run into you! Have a great holiday!
PS we are filming again;).
Orange tabbies ROCK! I have one of my own, Sammy, and he is my shadow, always wanting to be loved on. Congrats on your beautiful new addition to the family.
We have a rescue ragdoll kitt that has off and on crud/ respiratory , .my vet suggested L Lysine powder , we sprinkle over wet food , totally helps him!
Yep. Thanks!! That’s what Rustie is on. Plus famciclovir. Plus doc ( dr Matt Gatof in ft Myers) told me to steam is good for him so he goes in the bathroom with the door closed when either of us takes a shower. Plus saline solution to constantly keep his nose clean. He’s getting full treatment! I love our vet.
Hi Pam,Congratulations on the new kitty. We loved orange cats too and had a female orange rescue kitten( she rescued us!) She was a female which I’m told is rare because almost all cats of that color are males. The kids called her Miss Peach.
I got up early and read this and the first thing that happened was a big smile! A little silly lubricates life! Thanks!
Hi, Pam,
The package of notecards came yesterday. Absolutely love them! Have a wonderful holiday in your wonderful community! Welcome, Dusty-we want to see more of you! Carol
Oh my – love the baby – ours started out like that – now weighs 18 lbs….But Charlie had to stay in Tennessee when we moved down. Miss him a lot! We’ve been here a month – still haven’t run into you on the beach – hope that improves!!!! Love being here full time.
Congratulations! Orange boy kitties are THE best! Merry Christmas!
Awww, nice little Rusty! Hope the meds banish his kennel cough soon. He found a good home!
Gulfside on a big low tide is a really great place to see live mollusks!
Love little Rusty, reminds me of my sweet Yum Yum when he was alive. I love your 12 days of Sanibel Christmas! Too cute! A very Merry Christmas to the entire Rambo family from the Peppitoni’s here in Bradenton, and a Spectacshellar New Year too!
Rustie is the LUCKY one – he got the BEST parents!! Congrats to you & Clark !!
MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS !!
Congrats on Rusty! I’m a volunteer at our local Humane Society, and his kennel krud will pass. Enjoy your new love bug. :-)
So glad you got Rustie – he’s adorable. We have two almost 5 year old boys and in November we adopted two more kittens (both boys) from a local rescue. The one thing about cats/kittens, there isn’t one day that goes by that we’re not laughing at something they do. They can certainly keep one busy at Christmas & I’ve caught one of the kittens up in the top of our Christmas tree more than once but they are learning that it’s not a “kitty toy”. Again, congrats and wishing you many happy and fun filled years with little Rustie. Merry Christmas!!!
During the SUNSATIONAL SILLY SHELLING STROLL, you were so funny singing of
11 CONCHS ‘a clacking !! And you will ever forget those clicking COCKLES !!
So, please know that your wit with words reminded me of my very fave
Johnny Carson skit : “COPPER CLAPPER CAPER.” Just GOOGLE it on youtube
Thank you Pam for the extra happiness you send :)
Shellotte
Shellotte, I just caught a moment to catch Carson’s copper clapper caper! Its so funny!!!! hahahah thank you so much for posting this- johnny was the best!
Congratulations on the new addition to your family! I am especially thrilled that you rescued him from a shelter. I hope he brings you and Clark great joy. You bring so much joy to all the shellers who have discovered your website.
P.S. Mom came home from the hospital yesterday and is doing well.
Diane, glad to hear your mom is home for the holidays! Rustie has already brought us so much joy- Dustie even likes him already. :)
Merry Christmas Pam and Clark and beautiful kittens. We love our rescue pets too. We will be back to Sanibel with granddaughter Coral and some friends who are novice shellers in mid Jan. Keep those shells coming!
So happy for your new addition to the family. Rusty is indeed a blessed kitty to have you guys for his parents!!
I brought a new baby home too a week ago. She is a toy poodle and at present she weighs 1lb 11oz. She is the cutest thing ever and makes furbaby #4. LOL
Merry Christmas to my favorite shellers Pam and Clark!! Totally wishing you a happy New Year too.
with love,
Roxanne
I have a little jingle for Rusty. Sing it to the tune of Jingle Bells
Rusty Dusty Rusty Dusty you’re now new brot hers
Oh what fun you’re going to have with your new Mother and Pa AY
Rusty Dusty Rusty Dusty living on the isle
Oooh what fun you’re going to have in your home filled with sweet shells.
Pawing through the shells In the baskets on the floor
Oooh what fun you’ll have Purring through the day
Now Clark found you this home And Pam will sing and dance
To make you feel at home And make your life enhanced
You’ll be welcomed by Pam’s friends on I love shelling blogs and
Oh my goodness you wlll find that you are really loved.
Rusty Dusty Rusty Dusty you’ll be bros for life
OHHHH, what fun I hope you’ll have on this commm ing Chrisssst mas Night
Welcome and Merry Christmas !!! An original by L–O-R-E-E
Merry Christmas and Welcome
hahahahha LOREE! that is so adorable and clever! Now i’ll be singing it all day and smiling. Oh what fun we’ll have purring thorough the day! xoxoxo
Adorable new kitty. And because I live for checking your blog daily, yet don’t get around to commenting very often, I want to send a big THANK YOU for your wonderful blog. You have impacted our lives every day in such a positive way, so thanks for all the creative energy you funnel into this project.
I have a separate shelling question…(I haven’t looked back yet under ‘periwinkles’ on the sidebar to see if you’ve looked into this but I will in a minute)…Do you ever find periwinkles uninhabited? I’ve never found one and I don’t think I’ve ever heard of other people finding them, but I’ve seen your beautiful photos of them on the wood on Cayo Costa (and I’ve seen them there too). I wonder why the empty shells are not common at least on Cayo Costa?
Merry Christmas and I wish I was there with you! Although I’m not too unhappy with our temps in the mid to upper 60’s here in Sacramento and the Bay Area.
We have only found a few periwinkles uninhabited… I know, weird, right? We find the empty mangrove periwinkles (sometimes) at the lighthouse near the trees but the cloudy periwinkles aren’t as easy to find unoccupied. There are millions of live ones at Cayo Costa but we only have a handful of empties we have found. Maybe the birds eat the whole shell? Maybe as soon as the shells fall form the trees in the water, the rays eat them whole shell and all? dunno… another mystery of the sea.
Dana, thank you for your sweet note about my blog – that’s exactly what keeps me going!
Congratulations on your new family member and thank you for rescueing a sweet kitty. Hoping he recovers quickly and brings you years of joy. Thank you both for bringing a little sunshine to those of us not fortunate enough to live in paradise!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and Clark and your expanding family. We have 1 grandson, a grandcat and 3 granddogs in our family, so we know how important those little animals are to everyone.
It’s a little cold here, 1 below zero when we woke up this morning, we’re definitely missing Sanibel.
Your blog continues to bring smiles to me and Mr. CShells and longing to get back to the beach.
Thank you everybody for your well wishes on the little Rusters. He’s getting better little by little! xoxo
Merry Christmas and thank you for all your posts! They make my day!
Yay! Another kittie! So cute how you rhymed their names.