When in Rome

This year we discovered a fantastic site, Trustedhousesitters. The deal is somebody does house and pet sitting for free, in exchange for a stay in the house in a place that you want to visit. We had twice sitters here so that we could go to the US and to Izmir.
I thought that it would be fun to do that too and travel a bit more. So I applied to a few sits and got one in Rome, taking care of two doggies.
It all went rather fast and unplanned and so here I am, in Rome.

The house I am in is rather far from everything, but it is a nice walk to the river Tiber, that winds its way from north to south of the city and is crossed by many bridges. This is the Ponte Milvio, an old Roman bridge.

Couples who use a lamppost on the bridge to attach love padlocks as a token of love. The ritual involves the couple locking the padlock to the lamppost, then throwing the key behind them into the Tiber. The ritual was invented by author Federico Moccia for his popular book and movie "I Want You". (wikipedia)

After April 13, 2007, couples had to stop this habit because that day the lamppost, due to the weight of all padlocks, partially collapsed. However, couples decided to attach their padlocks elsewhere. In fact, all around the bridge, road posts and even garbage bins have been used to place these love padlocks. Even though it is forbidden (fine of 50 euros) and padlocks are removed by force there still are plenty of locks on the bridge.

You cannot see this bridge in this map, it is further north, but there are many old and lovely bridges.

I took a sightseeing bus tour to get my bearings in the city.

There are so many monuments that it is confusing and rather overwhelming.

The Colosseum is, of course totally unique. Isn't it weird how it is walled in by the modern city?

One of the seven Roman Hills

Ruins on the Palatino hills.

The Saint Angelo Castle, refuge of the popes in times of wars.

The palace of Justice.

I loved the views of the river most. It is just a small river, but water always transforms a city.

This is it for today. I found getting around with public transportation a pain and I am feeling every one of my 62 years on earth. You should do Rome when you are younger!

Happy Holidays!

(image source: bomobob)

It's almost Christmas so I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! We have closed the shops for the Holidays, Star mom is house sitting in Rome! And I will be home taking it easy but also doing some much needed garden work and home organizing while I don't have to worry about orders.
Mum will be blogging from Rome, I'm curious what she will do there :)
Happy Holidays, everyone!

Newly Listed: Knitted Sea Urchin Bag

Knitted Sea Urchin Bag, Hand Knitted Quirky Purse, Tentacles, Fun, Alien, Little Bag, Kiss-lock by StarBags
Garden Rainbow, Nature Photography, Rainy Landscape, Rain, Water, Fine Art by mooncrater
New York City Photography, NYC, Manhattan skyline, cityscape, city lights, urban decor, modern by ScarlettElla
Abstract Photography, Bokeh, Christmas Lights, Decor Abstract Art Colorful Neon by riotjane

Get The Look Vol. 9

I love these beautiful old carpet beaters, there are many types of knots and they just look pretty hanging on a wall. The one in our shop is from the 1930's and handmade in Spain, not good to beat carpets anymore but pretty enough to hang on the wall.

I love windmills, even little ones to decorate your home. While these from wayfair are mass produced I do find them charming.
If you prefer one of a kind handmade though, you will like our little windmill even better :)

While Macramé used to be only associated with the 1970's they are all the vibe again in these modern days. You won't catch me doing any big pieces but sometimes I like to do a little Macramé project on the side, like this basket with vintage handmade glass evil eye beads for some extra luck.

We have been selling beautiful bunches of driftwood for a while now and you can paint them if you find them plain, but now you can also get them painted as I did a fun project in between painting chairs (which will be finished soon, I hope) :)

Newly Listed: Druzy Pyrite Ring

Druzy Pyrite Ring, Fool's Gold Ring, Hand formed Bronze Pyrite Statement jewelry US size 6 by StaroftheEast
Egypt Giza Pyramid Camel Wall Art - Wall Decor, Wall Accent by MemoriesmakerDesigns
California Beach, Sunset Photo, San Clemente Pier, Orange County Beach, Golden Sunshine by LookinforLight
Wheat photograph, gold home decor, rustic decor, nature photography, farm house, decor wall art by oohprettyshiny

The Ugly Side

After many rainy days (not complaining!) we had some sunny weather and we went to the beach for some much needed fresh air and treasure hunt.

The beaches are now all quiet, especially when you go midweek, and after stormy weather you can find some cool stuff.

This beach here is especially great for driftwood.

The road however is very tricky, if you're not careful you can get stuck in the mud, our shoes got super heavy too.

Except for some happy lucky goats the beach was all ours.

 Weather was perfect, more like September than December.

Now all these pictures are amazing and we feel blessed to live close to these surroundings. But this time I also wanted to show you the ugly side of these beaches, or better said the things we humans do to these places...

As soon as you look down you start to see trash, at first bottle caps, rope and fishing net, but also plastic bottles, bags, shoes, and all kind of trash.

Most of this came from the sea but some was left by beach goers and just left all there trash behind. Either way it ended up on the beach and can end up back in the sea where it harms the living creatures in it. Animals get strangled by plastic or their stomachs get filled by plastic and they die of hunger.

I always collect several bags of trash with each of our visits, I never took pictures but when I shared this video on Facebook I got a comment from the original poster to join the #binbagchallenge, so that's why I documented it this time, for others to join too!
This can be at the beach but also mountains, road sides etc. Remember with the wind a lot of this trash ends up in the sea.

Collected a pile as large as myself.

We did collect some pretty driftwood branches too.

We filled the car full with trash and dropped it in a trash bin. Of course this is not the end of the trash it doesn't disappear but at least it won't be ending up in the sea now. I highly recommend you to watch this video! And I hope you join the #binbagchallenge!