Happy Father's Day

It's a rainy day at the Jersey Shore as we celebrate Father's Day, but we will still celebrate the men in our lives who not only take part in creating lives, but those who help out once the kids are here!

Happy Father's Day to:

The Dads

The Step Dads

The Grandfathers

The Uncles

The Single Moms

and all of you who help out raising our children. 

Wednesday Morning at the Beach

Just some pictures from the beach today.  

I had some orders to fill and spent some time walking the beach. It felt amazing & really lifted my spirit!

I made some bracelets and an anklet.  

Check out my Facebook page if you're interested in one. 

Happy 2014!!!

I wish you all a happy, healthy & prosperous new year!  

It's the only 2014 you'll get, make the most of it!

I know I will 

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Suzie

The beach angel

I took this picture in June of 2011

I loved this statue.

I thought of her as a guardian angel, watching over me, especially when I was on the beach alone for sunrise. 

After Sandy destroyed something like 80% of the homes in  Mantoloking, I hoped they had brought her in.  

When I saw the house amazingly survived, my hopes skyrocketed that my guardian angel had survived.

I'm not a very ballsy person. 

Back when I was 11, we had a house fire & I remember how upset my mother was by the "circus" in front of our house.  Because of that I never got into shooting peoples misery.  I took a few shots of businesses that had been destroyed, but that even bothered me, I wasn't going to take pictures of people homes.

But I put a 5x7 of this photo in my glove box with the intent on giving it to the owners if I ever saw them outside.

I haven't set foot on the beach in Mantoloking since October 26th or 27th, but every time I drive by this house I look to see if anyone is outside.

Today there was a guy outside and I figured what the heck, and I stopped.

I was sad to learn that the angel did not survive. 

I was even more saddened to learn that the spot were the angel lived was where the ashes of their son & daughter were buried.

I gave him the copy of the picture and my condolences.  

It's the stories like this that make Sandy suck even more all over again. 

Video Proof

That the Jersey Shore IS Open!

This is from Bay Head, NJ this morning April 6, 2013!

I hadn't been to watch the sun rise since before Sandy came to town.  It was time I got back there.  The video is a little shaky, I took it with my phone and it was chilly this morning (37 degrees)

Hope you enjoy it!

These Slogger boots are made for walking

on the beach!

Ok so I've been doing the beach writings for 2.5 years, I guess I should start investing in my business. Or at least in things that make my life easier. My Beach Writing & Sea Glass Store

So I told TheJerseyShoreDad that I needed a pair of waterproof boots.  I told him I didn't care what they looked like, they just needed to be waterproof.  Sometimes the waves still get me, so I needed a little protection.  Hip-waders would have been a bit of overkill! LOL

The boots he got me were fine, very useful.. but they were too big so they had to go back.

Since he ordered them from Amazon I figured I'd just find a replacement there.

At first I checked out Nomad rain boots.  Lots of cute patterns, but the description said water resistant, not water proof. I need waterproof.  I'm not going to be running for the bus in the rain, I'm getting hit by ocean waves!

Sloggers rain boots claimed to be water PROOF so I ordered these.

They fit well, little snug where my feet are wide, but they're rubber so they stretch.  

I wore them today to the beach to try them out!  It was low tide so normally I would not get caught by a wave, so I had to go IN the water.

Remember, it's JANUARY.  While the air temp was in the 40's, the water is too!

EEP!

(I don't normally tuck my jeans in my boots)

brrrr (they're not insulated, just rubber)

So what's the verdict?

My feet were DRY!  Cold, but DRY!  Woo hoo!!

I Love my Boots!

Oh and do you know who left their Tonka Toys on the beach?

August 26th National Dog Day!

 

My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am.  ~Author Unknown

Yeah for Doggies!

Those pooches are my puppies, Becca & Odie.

Becca came to us through a rescue group. I was only supposed to foster her, but we fell in love with her pretty much instantly.  She is one of the best dogs ever, but don't touch her tail, she doesn't like that! LOL

Odie is our Jack Russell that came to us when a neighbors daughter developed an allergy to him.  I swear he's part cat.  Becca will do anything to please us, Odie acts like a prince and is aloof like a cat.  

But the are both pretty awesome!

And speaking of awesome, have you see my 

Dog Paw Print in the Sand Necklace?

 Other Dog Items

Rainbow Bridge Photo

Heaven Is Photo

 

 

Crabby has left the building

Meet Crabby

I made Crabby one night on a whim.  I was looking at a piece of sea glass that was from the neck of a bottle and thought that it looked like a Hermit Crab shell.  So I got to work.

I thought he was pretty cool, but I'm strange.  (I like being strange.)  I put him up for sale in My Etsy Shop and he got a few views.

He's come with me to 2 craft shows, but no one even really looked at him.

He was sad :(

So I made him some friends to hang out with .

I even made him a silver friend.  The silver one has eyes now.

Then yesterday I had a big sale and when I opened the order I saw my picture of Crabby!

Someone bought Crabby!

Crabby is now all bundled up tightly & softly & on his way to his new home.

I'll miss him!

:cry:

Tuesday at the beach

I knew it was high tide.  But I've gotten some great beach writings done even when it was high tide.  So I gathered everything up and went to the beach. I could hear the surf when I got out of the car, but again this did not deter me.

Came over the walkway & saw this.

Umm, where is the beach?  There should be about 20 to 30 feet more sand there.

I look down the beach.

Ok, maybe I can walk down that way & find a place to write. 

Just so you know what you're looking at, the water is up to the bottom of the dunes.

I walk along the bottom of the dunes.  Every 4th or 5th wave reaches the bottom of the dunes.

 

And even if I could write something quickly, this is what it looks like at the bottom of the dunes

Who wants THAT in their picture???  I don't!

So I made it as far down as the next set of stairs (see 2nd picture) and decide to go home.  

The ocean got to me before I could reach the stairs and I was soaked up to my thighs!

 

High tide was at 8:38 today and these pictures were taken about 9am. Over the next few days the tide will be later so hopefully when I go back tomorrow, it will be much better!  We'll see!  

Heart!

Totally cheating today and just doing pictures of some of the HEARTS available in my shop.

My Shop

Bad Ass Beach Glass

Bad Ass Beach Glass Charm

What is Bad Ass Glass? It's beach glass found on the Jersey Shore. Jersey Shore beach glass is so bad ass it needs to be caged & put on a leash!

I captured this bad ass beach glass when I was on the beach doing my custom beach writings.

Some days I find a gang of glass, some days it finds a better hiding spot.

January 31, 2012 was a good day. 

 

I've taken the bad ass glass and some wire and made cages to keep them from harming others. You can use it as a key chain,  a phone charm, or even a USB charm.  If you're crafty yourself, you can take the charm off the chain & attach it to a necklace! Just make sure you keep it leashed as it is bad ass beach sea glass!

Get yours here

My Bad Ass Beach Glass Shop

The Jersey Moon

Wow, it's been 2 weeks since I posted, sorry!  Here are some pictures I took tonight that will hopefully make you forgive me! I need practice taking shots of the moon, but I had to try!

What's that? & a free picture!

On my last trip to the beach I saw this down the beach.

(click on the picture to see a bigger picture) 

From where I'm standing, and the fact that my glasses are in the car, my imagination kicks in.

Is it a whale?

One washed up on the beach in Ocean City the day before!

Maybe it's a shark or dolphin...  I hope not

What if it's a body??  OMG I'd probably close down my business if it was. 

Maybe not, but I'd probably stop investigating when I can't make out a shape.

Before I even take stick to sand I walk down the beach to check it out.

What was it?

It was part of a tree, of a HUGE tree!

Kind of looks like a turtle or a Komodo dragon or an alligator!

I'm thinking about offering this one as a print without the web address of course. 

 Make sure you check MY SHOP to see if I did.

Now to the freebie.  

I do not have permission from the Giants, so that is why it's free.
Plus I'm a BIG Giants fan, so I just like to spread the love!
Feel free to share it, but please do not remove my web address!
Thanks!

The Ocean didn't want to play today.

Most days, when I go to the beach to fill my custom beach writing orders, the ocean practically dances for my photos, and I am absolutely grateful.

 

Then there are days like today where I can not get one single thing done. 

The ocean was definitely dancing today. 

 

But it kept trying to get me to dance with it!

I had to run for my life (ok run for my dry feet!) more then once this morning!  There were 2 old guys standing up on the stairs and I am pretty sure I heard them laughing at me running from the waves!

I need a pair of those hip waders that fishermen use!

Or at least waterproof boots.

I couldn't really write anything today without it being washed away before I could even get 1 picture!

The birds weren't even safe!

Run birdies RUN!

No matter where I wrote, the waves immediately came and washed it away.  The sand could have been completely dry, but as soon as I put stick to sand, WOOSH it got washed away!

So instead I spent about 45 minutes walking through this rock field looking for beach glass. 

I found quite a bit!

Yes, I know the big round one isn't beach glass, but it's a really cool stone, so I took it.  

 

Becca was a little mad at me for not taking her to the beach today.  I'm actually blogging from the front porch because I'm afraid to walk in the house!  

LOL Just kidding, my dogs rock!