April Beans

2010 was a tough year for bean pickers. I didn't search as many times as in the previous year and when I did the pickins were slim.

So far it looks like 2011 may be a better year. The higher tides and strong south winds have been producing heavy loads of sargassum.


We had a few opportunities to look for beans and found some keepers already. I found this sea heart and sea purse in just a few minutes after supper one evening.


The next day Tracy found this tropical walnut on a leisurely stroll near the beach access road.


A couple of weeks later we again took a short walk and I found a Mary's bean and another sea heart.


The last weekend in April the strong south winds continued to pile up the sargassum. The county has not yet started using the motor grader on the beach yet so with a little luck the sun will dry out the seaweed and expose some of the hidden treasure.


I found a few more hearts including this one crusted over with sea growth and a couple of hamburger beans.


I was surprised to find another Mary's bean before ending our search for the day.

This may be a sign of a great year for beans!

Fiji Beans

My friends Edie and Maree brought me a treasure trove of beans from their trip to the Fiji islands.

Some were easily recognizable like this candlenut.

Others were specimens I have wanted ever since I saw my first one. This is a box fruit and when I saw one on display at the Padre Island National Seashore visitor center I knew it would be on my list.

This was another excellent find - a screw pine seed. It is part of a large seed that looks like a pineapple.


I think this is a crabwood.

This interesting seed is called Cerbera odollan. I haven't found it's common name yet.

These are similar to sea hearts but are a different variety called snuff box beans.

These are likely not drift seeds but instead are seeds from a local beach plant.

This may be a sea pea.

These are some nice laurelwoods.

This is the Asian swamp lily.

These are some intact tropical almonds. Most of what I find are not in this good shape.

Last but not least are these three beans that resemble hamburger beans. I have some work ahead of me to see what they will look like after polishing!


These are yet unidentified so I will keep looking until I solve the mystery.

Finally Found Some Beans

I love starting off a post with a sunset picture.

We took a ride to the beach and finally found some beans!

I found a brown nickarnut. These look like they are already polished.

This coconut has been drifting a long time as evidenced by the sealife growing in the cracks of its husk.

This shot is not a sea bean but it is cool nonetheless. Have you ever tracked a snake?

Tracy found her own hamburger bean.

We found some pecans, water hickorys, and other common beans.

Some rig worker likely wondered what happened to this.

Will the Stormy Weather Bring Beans?

This year has been a tough one for Texas Sea Beaners. There just haven't been any beans. The recent stormy weather promised to change the luck but all it produced was some cool pictures at the beach.

We had to keep an eye on the sky and not wander too far from the Jeep.

We searched high up in the wrack line near the dunes.

We also searched the wrack closer to the surf left by the last high tide. No beans!

February Beaning

Beans, Barnacles & Bones

I'm bad about picking up trash on the beach.

One think I can't seem to pass up is a bone especially if it is fossilized or unique.

Here are some of the recent finds along with some barnacles and driftwood.


The beans of the day include a swamp lilly (top), some palms, a heart, and a candlenut along with a square chunk of jet.

Happy New Year

Well, 2010 is here and what better way to enjoy the day then to take a walk on the beach.

I treasure the times I can listen to the pulse of the surf and let my mind free to think about the great blessings we have in Christ and to enjoy the beauty of God's creation.

This scarecrow must have stayed up till midnight waiting on the New Year.

You never know what you may find in the quest for beans on the beach. This snake skeleton made an interesting sight in the sand.

A single blade of cord grass whipped out this trench as the wind tickled it across the sand.

Even this little bird was dragging his toes as he made his way home.

This mermaid's purse was half buried.

I found several cool beans this day including a Mary's bean, two hearts, some burgers and palms, and an antidote vine seed. Also, I picked up some shells and coral and one coconut to add to the collection at the nature center.

Here are the non-bean treasures.