seashells – Julia A. Keirns – Author, Blogger, Writer

December 19, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

Another day in paradise —

Yes, it really was another day in paradise. The weather here in southern Alabama is so comfortable. Highs in the 60s everyday and sunshine. We get to open the windows and let the fresh air in. I love it. It is nearly perfect, at least for us. We don’t have to run the air conditioning or the heat.

After a weekend of collecting shells on the beaches, which you can read about in the article below, we had to clean them all this morning. We washed the sand off of them outside. We don’t want all that sand going down the drain into the tank of the RV. Then we put them on a towel on the table to dry.

I ended up with quite a haul of shells.

After cleaning the shells, we cleaned the RV. We bring an awful lot of sand inside and it seems our daughter and three grandchildren are going to fly down to see us! They will be here Thursday and stay until Sunday morning for a Christmas visit. We want to make sure the car and the house are nice and clean for them.

We went to the laundry room and did two loads of laundry and then Rich laid down for a nap. He seems to take a lot of naps lately. I think it is because he gets bored. I have so many hobbies and things I can do like writing, drawing, coloring, or even crocheting. He has nothing like that. So when he gets too bored, he sleeps.

Speaking of crocheting, I decided to crochet a garland for our little two-foot Christmas tree today. I decided to use a light green yarn that I had plenty of on hand.

For this small tree, I crocheted a chain of 402. Then all I did was skip the first chain and then put two double crochet in each remaining chain all the way across and it automatically curls on its own.

I love how our little tree is turning out.

I am considering crocheting a small white tree skirt next…

Well, guess what I did before I went to bed…yep, I crocheted a small white tree skirt for the tree. I think it turned out pretty good for just making it up.

Thanks for stopping by to read and share RV life with us.

December 18, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

RV Life Daily Blog – Saturday and Sunday, December 16 and 17, 2023

We found our very first ever whole sand dollar while collecting shells this weekend! It is small. Smaller than the palm of my hand. These small ones are super fragile. We found a second one, but it broke soon after I picked it up.

December is a quiet month here on the coastal beaches of southern Alabama and Florida. Many times, we are the only people in sight. I expect January to pick up some after the holidays.

But we are not the only creatures in sight. Many times we are privileged enough to have a great blue heron share the beach with us.

He even followed us around for a bit. I think he was curious about what we were picking up off the beach. He walked down to where we were and then, turned around and followed us.

We have found several beaches here that are great for collecting shells. You just have to check the tide schedule and show up at the right time. Here in the Gulf, there are two high tides and two low tides.

Would you believe that Shell Beach is one of the best? And parking is free at all the paid parking lots after December 1. Shell Beach is part of Gulf State Park.

Don’t let Rich fool you. He enjoys finding cool shells just as much as I do.

I want to pick up all the complete shells that aren’t broken, but Rich stops me after a while cause the bag gets too heavy.

When he asks me what I will do with all the shells, I remind him that all the little ones that have holes in them will be hanging on the tree. Just look at all the shells on the tree in the picture above. I love looking at them.

Last year, I made wind chimes with the shells we collected in Florida.

I wish we could find more of the large ones without imperfections or broken edges.

Why do we love shells so much? Maybe because it gives us a glimpse into the ocean. I have never been in the ocean, no snorkeling or diving, so I have no personal experience with what it is like, and seashells give me a personal glimpse into that. The farthest I have ever been in the ocean is up to my knees.