Cockle shell

Another dullish morning weatherise and after a spot of pre-breakfast drawing and dinosaur puzzle activity, Himself and I did a last minute shop in Takaka, had coffee and cake in Dangerous and then hit the beach. Today we went to Rotatai. The tide was way way out and we walked for mile s across soft sand and muddy bits to have a brief paddle. It's interesting how each beach has its own variety of shells.This one was full of cockles, all mainly clustered together but this one was sitting upright in splendour - a tiny tuesday's version of Maggie Hambling's magnificent scallop. The thing next to it might either be a crab breathing hole or a sand dollar - a rather odd flat crustacean that lurks below the surface of the sand. Just us and the wading birds.
Once Esme was home we had treasure hunts in the garden and eventually wheeled her home exhausted in the wheelbarrow. She helped make pizzas (not many olives or pineapple actually made it to the pizza bases) and now she has crashed and we're babysitting while Joe goes to badminton.