It’s Half-term & It’s Phoebeday

So there are two bags in the hall along with a snazzy skateboard. Toby has come too.

Phoebe has come in matching clothes

There’s a spotty theme going on!

Granda took Toby and Phe to the local park but they weren’t gone long – Toby came off the ramp and landed, none too gently, on his knee!

Earlier in the week we had been to the beach hut, another lovely sunny day but such a cold east wind – everyone was wrapped up.

 

Toby is making some thing – as usual and Phe is eating something – as usual. Fish and chips by the look of it.

Toby had caught some crabs, the strangest crabs any of us had ever seen……………..

Can you see the long spider like legs and the twin antennae ?

Wonderful Google identifies it

Masked Crab - Corystes cassivelaunus

The Masked Crab, Corystes cassivelaunus, is widespread around the UK on sand. It is not often seen by divers as it spends daylight hours under the sand with its antennae just emerging. It uses these to channel water down its gills and emerges at night to feed. The body is quite small, maybe about 4cms across but with disproportionately large claws

The masked crab is particularly distinctive, as it possesses long hairy antennae. It has an elongated shell about an inch long. The carapace has two short sharp projections on either side of the eyes. The front limbs with the pincers are longer than its body, this is even more pronounced with the males.

This is a common crab but is rarely seen as it burrows in sand on the lower shore tide mark. The antenna is used as a tube to feed sea water to its gills and allows the crab’s body to be completely buried, with only the tip of the antenna above the sand. If one digs out a masked crab and then places it back on the sand, the crab will rebury, doing so while standing erect.

Finally, today – 23/04/2011 I  had my hair cut!

What do you think?

Phe Phe.