High Seas at Rosh Hanikra

It was a perfectly sunny day at the Mediterranean coast: We arrived at Rosh Hanikra during our Road Trip through Israel one afternoon. Rosh Hanikra lays in the very North at the boarder to Lebanon. It is famous for its grottos: during storms or high seas the waves crash into caves at the cliff - spectactular! We luckily catched high seas and experienced the grottos at their best!! =) (And of course we got splashed with sea water a lot!).

View over the coast line next to Rosh Hanikra. WOW!!

A small cable car brings people down the cliff to the grottos.

Seriously bleached hair - and new jewellery^^: pearl creoles and frog necklace from Jerusalem.

Waves crashing against the rocks!! Huuu =). Inside the caves the day light can be completely blocked out with a big wave rolling in! Some of the paths and tunnels inside the rocks were closed because they already got to slippery to walk on them savely!

Found this ring at the Old City Bazaar in Akko!

After Rosh Hanikra we drove to the mountains and had a dinner picnic on the rocks and watched the sunset^^. You can see classical Israel food here: Lebone (white sour cheese), salad, more cheese and bread as thin as skin.

This evening somebody special literally crossed our way! Galilas whole story soon^^.

***

The work project is finally over! All in all it went pretty well and there will be some follow-up work with it still, but generally I will have more time from tomorrow onwards =). Great weekend to you all and cordial greetings from Israel!! Love,

Found on the Beach

Wandering the shore I found these beautiful ocean-coloured pieces of jewellery between the beach pebbles. Or so it seems ;)). A girl can dream... Anyways, I suddenly discovered my love for turquoise jewellery here and was happy to find these purchases.

Looks like a stone itself, doesn't it? A caramel coloured ring.

I wear this necklace nearly every day ♥. The inspiration came mainly from those pieces:

Source

Source

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Summer approaches us now in big steps... we are exspecting to hit the 40° C (104 °F) line within these days! Now to the BIG NEWS: I am going on a trip with friends (starting Saturday evening) all around Israel for a week! I am so excited to see all different kinds of cities and sights and of course I'll make you part of this experience^^. Because I am not yet sure if we have the time to see an Internet café during the tour, I'll prescribe a few posts to keep you entertained and maxium I'll share the Road Trip Photos upon my return in a week! Wish me a save trip! =)
Love,

PS: All the other fashionistas receive their H&M catalogues in these days... F., please make sure that you keep my exemplar, do you hear me? =)

The Thunder Storm Adventure

Yesterday suddenly the sky darkened and a thunder storm approached the city from the North. I was already in my bathsuit and decided to jump into the sea for a short swim. The waves became higher and it started to rain. I could hear the thunder in the distance... still I was to eager to find out how the under water life is reacting to it. It turned out that they seemed fairly unaffected. I dived down to look below one of the coral ledges and totally freaked out: !!! Quietly in the shadow sat a yellow ribbontail ray with blue dots! It eyed me curiously, not sure if I am a danger or about to be ignored. He appearently felt save and I was able to dive down several times to watch him closer! Later I found out that his tail spines are venomous. Lucky for me that I did not get too close! What an event, my first wild stingray and such a beautiful one!

The Bluespotted ribbontail ray (Taeniura lymma). Source.

Black Lionfish (family Scorpaenidae). Source.

I was already sure that the stingray would be the highlight of this snorkel trip, when I suddenly detected a black lionfish! You remember the first ones I saw here? Usually they are brightly red coloured, actually I did not know that black speciman do even exist until then! What a surprise. I watched him, how he checked out a black long-spined urchin patiently and realized after a while, that the rain increased and I got seriously cold. I managed to run out of the water before the first few lightnings occurred over the now grey sea surface. By now, I was really shivering hard and escaped from the natural forces to a warm shower! What an adventure!

Blue Christmas-tree worm (Spirobranchus giganteus). Source.

A few days ago, I was lucky to catch a glimpse of a rare Christmas tree worm! Such beautiful creatures! It was the first time I saw one for real, well hidden in a massive coral. And also a small 'colony' of red sponge. I was not aware of this species so far. Doesn't it look incredible?

Red sponge (Cliona sp.). Source.

Do you agree that the most colourful creatures can be found under water? It's so inspiring! I am looking forward to explore the reef much more! What else will I find?
Love,


Edit: I consulted my reef guide and found out that the black lionfish can be considered as the juvenile stadium of the (later red) lionfish. Interesting, I had no idea.

The Kingdom of the Lionfish

A pair of lionfish (Source).

WOW! That was a surprising encounter. After work I often take the time to go snorkeling over the coral reefs here. My wish to find a (rare) lionfish was finally fulfilled yesterday afternoon: I swam to my favourite place on the reef: a small cleaning station. Fishes of all sizes and colours swim there to have any parasites removed from their bodies by smaller cleaning fishes. So there is always a lot of action going on at this spot.

At first I wasn't sure and dived closer: But it was a beautiful lionfish for sure! After I caught my breath again, I went down more times and found out that he was not alone: He had the company of two other lionfishes! I was so excited that I swallowed a lot of sea water and had to force myself to breathe normally. They did not feel disturbed by me at all and I could take my time to look at them closely. I got so close that I could have touched them (which I did not of course). They are just as beautiful as I imagined them to be!

A white moray lurking under a coral-covered rock. (Source)

Another (at first frightening) encounter: I saw a long white moray eel moving over the sea floor (at least 1 m!), trying to hide himself in the cracks and crevices of the reef. Lucky me it wasn't a sea snake (lol).

A sea cucumber, surrounded by curious Anemone fishes. (Source)

And those creatures also are a little alien to me: Black holothurians (sea cucumber)! I dived very closely to them, but how can you guess that you deal with a living organism? They are not moving at all! And heaven they are big! I also saw anemonefishes, close to their host anemone (now everyone: "Neeemo!!"). Haha. More about my underwater adventures soon. :D
Love,

***The Nautilus Home***

The Nautilus home (all pictures via StyleFrizz).

Ground plan - inspired by the marine animal "nautilus".

Conservatory - very lovely and green!

Scenery from the dream house! That staircase is superb!

View outside/inside.

A nautilus looks like this!^^ (Source).

I was utterly amazed when I found this house! How I would love to go there (it is located in Mexico) and take a look around the house and its unique architecture for real. For me, it feels like a futuristic, super-cool dream coming true...maybe there will be more outstandingly creative and individual homes in the future? Can't wait! How do you feel about it? Would you choose to move there? Love those fancy coloured glass windows!! *-*
Love,

PS: This post is dedicated to my friend S.H., who loves the sea as much as I do.

Artist: Sascalia

Girl with lantern by the sea.

Recently I discovered this artwork, painted by Sascalia. Her pictures (referd to as "mixed media collage art") are warm, colourful and they leave a comforting notion in my heart. Her themes are mostly women or young girls, of late additionally couples and families. She works with pastel hues. I like that the paintings evolve a dreamy, fairy-tale-like atmosphere. They seem optimicstic and happy. The eyes are expressive. If you like what you see, visit Sascalia here. What do you think of her art? I enjoyed my evening with almond horns and strawberry-rhubarb-cream-tea, in company of my friend HJ. Why cannot all days be as relaxed as this one?

Love, Lilly :)
PS.: Sascalia has her own blog.

Young mother with her sleeping child.Fairy with balloons.Girl with a little wren under a tree.Fairy dancing in a flowerfield.

By the seaside

Earrings: Vintage (+ selfmade)

Hi^^. Today I altered the new earrings I introduced
yesterday! The seahorses have been removed and
they now form a pair themselves^^.
I love seahorses, therefore I browsed the net for
some seahorse accessories and here is what I
found:

(1: alternativeoutfitters.com, 2: nauticalia.com,
3: ebay(.de)shop:schmuckwerkehanau,
4: silver charm by thomas sabo, 5: by potterybarn, 6: artistgifts.com)

We celebrated the official beginning of spring in my
country today and I went out for some iced
coffee in the spring sun (but afterwards I wasn't
only frozen from outside, but also from the inside^^).
I wish I could have those golden sandals...awww.
Obviously I love marine designs :)
Lilly

Sandals by Il Sandalo