An oyster bed near the shoreline is encouraging to see. If you like oysters, be sure you’ve checked your local website for updates on any shellfish contamination that may be happening in your area.

We saw tons of oysters, but our fishing licences only allowed 12 each. That is certainly enough for a meal.

Poor Emma. She ran over these oyster shells and was soon limping along with sore feet from the rough barnacles on the shells.

After that, she preferred to run over pure sand or maybe a clam bed, both of which were easier on her feet.

I found a bit of beach money to pay for the clams and oysters. See the sand dollars below? The whiter ones were dead and sun bleached; the  yellower ones were probably not feeling well; and the darker purplish brown ones (not pictured) were quite alive. I didn’t get a picture of them because I didn’t find them until later when I figured out that they were a few inches below the surface of the sand.

Emma was interested in a lot of things on the beach. This oyster was by itself, away from the rest and was covered with big  barnacles. It seemed out of place here among all the clam shells.

The beach had so much driftwood washed up that it was an endless job for Emma to explore for mice and other little creatures that left their telltale scents on or under the logs.

She finally decided to tackle that big job, one log at a time.

It kept her busy all day.

So much fresh air and a tiny bit of sunshine ensured that we all slept well that night.