RaspberryApples

The Urban Aviatrix

2011-01-31T10:47:00.003+13:00

Hey guys, you like what you see here? Then come take a peek at UrbanAviatrix. It's more of the same, only better. Larger pics, cleaner interface. Like RaspberryApples in a little black dress. Plus I've been picture blogging my crazy world tour: now we're onto Denmark - my new favourite place. (And I'm telling you all this because RaspberryApples is still collecting followers despite the fact I no longer live here.) Drop by for a cuppa, friends. x

Moving House

2011-01-06T21:53:00.003+13:00

Peeps! RaspberryApples HAS MOVED. I came back from travels and decided it was time for an online seachange. So come visit my new home at Urban Aviatrix. It's still a work in progress but you'll find more of the same, and some. Love vibes, Eri x

There And Back To See How Far It Is

2010-09-30T16:27:00.002+13:00

It's that time of year again my speckled hens - the hurdygurdy music spins a jig and the magic land at the top of the Faraway Tree has changed, so I'm off on a whirlwind trip of near epic proportions: nine countries in eight weeks. It's a working trip and the itinerary is packed like Salma Hayek's bikini, but hell, it sure beats going blind in an office. Things I'm looking forward to? Unfamiliar supermarkets, Canadian countryside, exploring my Danish roots, Finnish saunas, Irish pubs, marmite on toast and reconnecting with the UK. Not to mention all the unexpected adventures and interesting people along the way. The upshot of this is, posts may be more sparse than usual. Until my return - I raise a glass in your honour, ether friends. x

Hello And Welcome

2010-09-23T11:08:00.005+12:00

A piggybank decorated with ta moko greets shoppers from the window of a local dairy (corner store) in Ohakune.

Negative Space

2010-09-22T08:31:00.002+12:00

Hello, first year Design Theory class.

Moomin Tales

2010-09-21T00:28:00.007+12:00

Maiju, Moomin Papa looks CRAZY. Probably just about right then. *grin* (And I watched Alice in Wonderland that very night, with Nick. He fell asleep on the couch. I fell through the rabbit hole.)

Trashed

2010-09-20T09:22:00.001+12:00

Solid Ground

2010-09-19T11:55:00.006+12:00

Brought to you by your Sunday Morning Rage Against The Machine.

Shiny Houses

2010-07-24T18:15:00.003+12:00

Visiting Necie's new bach as they have renovations done. Shiny papered cladding decorating the stripped back frame. Nice.

Leaf Architecture

2010-07-23T23:10:00.002+12:00

Night Shadows

2010-07-19T04:44:00.001+12:00

Planes and shadows, light geometrics, splashed upon the wall.

Explosive

2010-07-18T23:11:00.011+12:00

An image just discovered. Our bedroom?

Weeping Pond

2010-07-01T09:51:00.004+12:00

Kaleidoscopic beauty.

Spun

2010-06-30T07:37:00.000+12:00

Snow Sky

2010-06-29T06:35:00.000+12:00

Reds & Yellows

2010-06-27T23:28:00.000+12:00

Things I Liked

2010-06-26T00:51:00.021+12:00

Skimming over old notes, I discover a list of things I liked about our work trip to the US earlier this year:

During a long flight delay, I entertain myself by imagining what I'd be like if I was a man. Probably a cross between Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor. Either way, I would be trying out a handlebar moustache. Just as I settle on this happy quirk, an older man in a panama hat and boating shoes walks past, sporting a delicately curled handlebar moustache. I grin.

Some random dude in a red shirt strides up to me and shakes my hand vigorously while saying, 'Welcome to the United States, young lady!' Who is he?

My new friend Denise has tight black dreadlocks that I am admiring. But when I reach out to touch them, she fixes me with a firey glare "Girl, you don'NEVER touch a black woman's hair!" She breaks into steely laughter, and I like her even more.

I meet a cheerful woman who used to be a Las Vegas showgirl. Now she does massage therapy, and writes. She is shy about telling me but relaxes when I smile wide and exclaim 'that's AMAZING!!'.

A man in the supermarket spies his friend across the store. They advance towards each other with hellos. One of them pats the two long paper packages he's cradling, freshly bought from the bakery. "These ur ma bread babies", he drawls. "The dough's so soft, it's lahhk a baybee."

Preceding the flight home, James gets the five of us into the Gold Class lounge with him at LAX (dead jammy). I take advantage of the free champagne and grab a shower. As I dry off, the bathroom is filled with a hideous muzak version of 'Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?'. SO hilariously bad, it's good. Impromptu booty shaking ensues.

The male air stewards on our homeward flight are middle-aged guys with the weathered features and clear eyes of men who till the soil. (I know - unusual. But nice.) They all refer to me as 'luv', spoken in laid back Kiwi tones. Nothing beats this side of the world.

Nested

2010-06-22T07:21:00.001+12:00

Moomin Tales

2010-06-18T12:13:00.001+12:00

Aha! When this perfect little postcard arrived in the post today, I knew it was from Maiju - Finnish Snow Queen, Wild Swan and fellow Moomin Lover. Kiitos kaunis! Minä rakastan sinua x

I Love Lucy

2010-06-17T19:18:00.000+12:00

My niece, that is. When they flew over for a visit at Easter, she and I got down to the REAL issues: Teletubbies. LaLa is the diehard favourite, followed closely by Po and Dipsy. But when it became apparent Tinky Winky never featured in our conversations I asked, 'So Tinky Winky can get stuffed then, can he?' Her reply was a serious nod. Sorry Tinky Winky. SHAFTED.

Desert Road Dreaming

2010-06-11T21:21:00.003+12:00

The weather man said 'SNOW SNOW SNOW' so we took off round the mountain to play in it. Cold toes, cold nose, rosy cheeks, wide smiles, best work day ever.

Volcanic Blues

2010-06-10T21:35:00.007+12:00

Mt Ngauruhoe, under a brilliant sky. A pointy little part of the Tongariro volcanic complex down the road. (Also famous for masquerading as Mt Doom in Lord Of The Rings.)

Round The Mountain

2010-06-09T19:13:00.001+12:00

The mountain road towards Turoa Ski-field...

Sky Leaves

2010-06-08T21:27:00.005+12:00

Autumn Days...

Saturday Markets

2010-06-07T19:48:00.000+12:00

Freaky dolls and a psychedelic brolly. (Love it.)

Snail Trails

2010-06-06T21:11:00.004+12:00

I found this little guy making his way across the sink one evening. A perfect snail in miniature, the size of my littlest fingertip. He crawled onto my hand, so I carried him outside to forge a new life in the night garden.

Leaf Bed

2010-06-05T21:06:00.000+12:00

Earth Carpet.

Autumn Stars

2010-06-04T20:52:00.003+12:00

Star spangled blues and golds, suspended bright above me. (Close your eyes, open your arms and breathe it in.)

RaspberryApples

2010-06-03T08:19:00.002+12:00

A pail full of windfallen fruit, gathered amongst the orchard grasses.

Fog

2010-06-02T20:26:00.000+12:00

Awake and over the hills far too early, delivering friends to a mist shrouded airport. (Two cups of coffee did nothing to dispel the fog.)

By Chance

2010-06-01T16:17:00.003+12:00

An accidental world, through the looking glass...

Nightmare

2010-05-31T03:17:00.011+12:00

It is the 1950's. My husband and I are entertainers at a beachside holiday resort in America (I look like Doris Day and he appears to be Clark Gable). My pay is woeful, but I have been secretly spending what I earn on poker machines in the bar, earning hundreds of thousands from my small investment. Unfortunately the resort's owner is a big Mafia boss who is murdering those he feels aren't towing the line. The C.I.A. are involved in a sting operation to catch him at it, so they hide out around the place with semi-automatic weapons. One afternoon I'm on my way to our apartment, when two agents accost me. They warn that we're next. As I start to run, a car of henchmen drives past on their way to report me to their boss. Then they will come and kill me. I bolt home, taking stairs two at a time, slamming through the front door. 'QUICK!' I shout, 'We have to get out of here!' I am rifling through drawers full of loose notes and change, pocketing what I can, wondering how the hell to escape with my earnings and my life. 'What have you DONE?!' shouts my husband, with his head in his hands. My heart is still beating fast as I wake with a start.

Yellow Birds

2010-05-25T23:12:00.002+12:00

In the U.S. I saw many houses that were full of stuff. My kinda stuff is smooth stones and seed pods, but these people had all sorts of other stuff. Cut glass, tin toys, a hundred years of bric-a-brac passed down. And I liked this handcarved avian chess set VERY much.

Mouldscapes

2010-05-13T21:44:00.004+12:00

Cleaning out the fridge (a job I tragically enjoy - yet again, lucky housemates), discovering fascinating mouldscapes. All in a day's work.

Feather Sand

2010-05-07T08:34:00.000+12:00

Ne Touché Pas

2010-05-06T23:22:00.002+12:00

I kinda fell in love with the absurdity of this little sign. I want one at my next exhibit. (The mental picture of elegant patrons clambering over an irresistable pencil drawing, like rowdy five year olds.)

Neptune

2010-05-05T19:39:00.006+12:00

King Neptune rides a killer wave of...sandstone. (Nice abs tho.)

Chopper

2010-05-04T19:29:00.000+12:00

Beautiful bikes down at Virginia Beach, USA.

Bug

2010-05-03T19:53:00.001+12:00

A bug I found by the sink. That is one wicked looking tail. (Glad it was no longer flying about the room.)

Dream

2010-04-19T06:27:00.011+12:00

Oh it was a good one last night. A heavily pregnant Asian girl runs fast through a stone city. She has bright red hair and is wearing a gothic black dress. She is strong, the kind of woman who says what she thinks. And she's on her way to the palace, completely unconcerned that her waters might break with this exertion. Her lover - an Indian prince - is at the palace with his father (who looks like Omar Sharif). In his mind, she is a confirmed party girl, the last person he would ever think of becoming a mother. But she is coming to ask for his help because he is the father. Everyone is being readied for an epic journey, and all is hustle and bustle. I enter a vaulted room where we have gathered to hear the King. He points at a mildly disabled man amongst the crowd, dressed in blue and lying in a roughly hewn, wooden canoe. "You. You must go on this trip." He stares down the rest of his entourage, who think he is entrusting something of great importance to an imbecile. "His heart - his heart is right. He has a good heart." I look into the eyes of the man in the canoe and smile warmly, because I know the King has seen correctly. Then the King points at me, and one other person. "And YOU. You must go too." I am surprised. And I realise that I am little, like a child. I look out across the water to unknown lands. This is where I am headed...

Candy Girl

2010-04-18T18:01:00.011+12:00

Because they sound like a throwback to 1950's 'aw golly gee whiz' Americana.

Because my little sister LOVES Seinfeld.

Because of a Claire Danes movie I saw once where some old dude was checking out a girl at the beach and described her bikini-clad behind as looking 'like a coupla junior mints' (um?)...before she turned around and he realised it was his daughter. AGH.

Because you know I have a thing for package design (and this one is super retro, in the most delicious Saul Bass kinda way). And I was jonesing for some aniseed. Sweeet.

Toilet Photography

2010-04-17T17:25:00.003+12:00

Did the people I was staying with, have ornaments in the bathroom? Hell yes.

Little Beings

2010-04-16T00:01:00.017+12:00

Anyone who has ever had the pleasure of owning dogs (or being owned by them, as Dodie Smith would say) will know they are cheery comforters when things don't look so good. In the photo above, Sanna is dozing next to 11 year-old me on my Thinking Stair - the place I hung out when I was mulling things over. Earlier this week Po cuddled up to me when I was missing my sister. And here she is, face planting the carpet late one night. (Um, Poppy, not my sister.)

Beachside Treasures

2010-04-15T22:05:00.002+12:00

A beachy afternoon, Scorching Bay, Wellington

Ticket To Ride

2010-04-14T09:02:00.011+12:00

Dishevelled typography and illustration, decorating a discarded ticket. Lying amongst leaves, quietly radiating the kind of uncommon beauty I can't go past. (It travelled all the way to New Zealand in my pocket.)

Once Upon A Postcard

2010-03-28T13:39:00.008+13:00

Paul Newman has regrets. (A cheeky gift for one of my housemates.)

Carnival Of Lights #4

2010-03-18T05:30:00.004+13:00

Candy coloured goodness gives me happy vibes...

Carnival Of Lights #3

2010-03-17T04:51:00.000+13:00

Carnival Of Lights #2

2010-03-16T07:48:00.001+13:00

Carnival Of Lights #1

2010-03-15T07:18:00.003+13:00

11 hours on a plane from NZ, a cancelled flight, a 9 hour delay at LAX, an unplanned trip to Chicago and 15 minutes sleep in 40 hours. But I was feeling sparky - the kind of hallucinogenic joy where never sleeping again seems like a GREAT idea. We reached O'Hare at 2am - the whole place was silent, empty as the night...apart from the carnival of lights along the travelators. ENTRANCED.

Cut From Obsidian

2010-02-23T17:15:00.039+13:00

My eyes are black and I am

Leather clad. Sweet but

Hard. You clung to me

A benchmark of all that is

Good and pure and beautiful.

Find your own raft, for I am leaking

Hang your weight on someone else.

- December 2009

Becky & Steve

2010-02-14T05:51:00.000+13:00

Two darling friends were married at a garden party yesterday. And sadly, so sadly, I couldn't be there. I sent a beautifully written card, stashed FULL with stars and coloured confetti. Hopefully it exploded on open, showering them with fluttering petals of paper love.

Horseplay

2010-02-13T02:36:00.004+13:00

The Random Horse. (And a pretty good pub name.)

Girl Friday

2010-02-12T08:39:00.012+13:00

Things that occur to me when tidying up:

Why the hell is there a sock on my work desk? (Never mind the fact that I left it there for a week.)

How did that horse figurine get into my underwear drawer? (The result of a previous attempt at tidying up?)

Where did the apricot on my djembe come from? (Foraging? The fifth dimension? Me saving it for later?)

Who put the empty shot glass under our bed? (Um...)

And when will I have time to dance today? (Possibly in the shower. I'M THERE.)

Spoon Fish

2010-02-09T07:48:00.002+13:00

I wandered into the kitchen this morning to find four little spoons swimming against the wooden tide like a shoal of silver fish. {3 cups of tea & 1 bowl of cereal, brought to you by my housemates.}

Torn

2010-02-08T09:48:00.007+13:00

Wonder in the rough edged tear.

Ballooniverse

2010-02-07T03:38:00.009+13:00

It's only a balloon, but it makes me feel like I'm floating in blue space. And then I start singing Across The Universe - one of my favourite songs as a teenager. (Even though I've never understood that whole 'nothin's gonna change my world' thing. Whatever, lads.)

Who knows?

2010-02-06T10:03:00.003+13:00

Expect the unexpected...

Like Mr Tambourine Man Except With Balloons...

2010-02-05T08:38:00.007+13:00

How could you not take a picture?

Fresh Like A Million Bucks

2010-02-04T01:03:00.002+13:00

Baby Mafioso

2010-02-03T00:31:00.009+13:00

Those weird little mountain creatures may be vomiting rainbows (too much Owl City) while being ruled over by a baby mafioso with salad fingers, but they kinda look like they're having a good time doing it.

Side Street

2010-02-02T00:23:00.000+13:00

Post No Bills

2010-02-01T00:01:00.001+13:00

(Poetry Excepted)

Spill

2010-01-31T00:05:00.001+13:00

Accidental homage to Jackson Pollock, Scorching Bay, Wellington.

Intermission

2010-01-30T00:41:00.000+13:00

Smoke and mirrors down at The Embassy Theatre, Wellington.

Number 88

2010-01-29T01:58:00.006+13:00

I have a thing for shops that are in the process of being refitted. Order becomes chaos, becomes order again, and everything within is magically reimagined. These mysterious renovations were decorously covered with newspaper. Alluringly elusive.

Morning Light

2010-01-28T09:29:00.001+13:00

First Dream

2010-01-01T10:16:00.038+13:00

A bittersweet dream for New Year's night: a letter from an old friend, written in plain pencil and interspersed with hand drawn pictures of Moomins drinking cups of tea and giving flowers, pictures of people soaring through mid-air, some wearing little capes and bowler hats. Direct, energetic handwriting on the page. 'EEEEEEEEEEERI!' writ large like a happy shout. He tells me he is fine. My heart is suddenly at rest because I know everything will be alright, and I smile...

Sunrise Over Sea

2009-12-16T06:54:00.003+13:00

My 30th birthday dawned bright and clear over Southern seas today.

(And you're all invited to the dawn party.)

Distressed Edges

2009-12-15T02:51:00.000+13:00

The glorious wreckage of an abandoned fishing skiff, weathered by years of elemental overexposure. So beautiful I could curl up in it and fall asleep.

Stonework

2009-12-14T17:59:00.000+13:00

Beachside Collage

2009-12-13T22:25:00.001+13:00

Tryphena

2009-12-12T22:50:00.004+13:00

The white sand and smooth rock of Tryphena waterside.

Peter, Benjamin & The Fierce Bad Rabbit

2009-12-11T08:52:00.000+13:00

Early each morning a family of rabbits hopped by to nibble on the dewy grass and foliage outside the kitchen window. I had to be very quiet when I was making cups of tea, so they wouldn't run away. But I SO wanted to pat them...

Doing The Dishes

2009-12-10T05:14:00.001+13:00

Droplets caught around the kitchen sink.

Dressed In Petals

2009-12-09T22:10:00.005+13:00

The warm glow of some dangerously lovely blooms.

Stormy Weather

2009-12-08T08:06:00.002+13:00

Awana Beach.

Hollow Fish

2009-12-07T12:12:00.000+13:00

Desiccated puffer fish, anyone?

Seashells By The Seashore

2009-12-06T21:44:00.000+13:00

Midnight At The Lobster Pot Dance Hall

2009-12-05T10:09:00.002+13:00

Peeking inside this lobster pot, I was transported into a miniature world of wonder - a dancefloor spun with orbs of luminous light, the night-time ballroom of heavenly bodies.

Fireflight

2009-12-04T21:14:00.006+13:00

Bonfire night by the beach. Magic.

Roughed Up Row Boats

2009-12-03T20:58:00.001+13:00

Dappled sunlight hitting up the kind of rough textured goodness that belongs on canvas (or the walls of my apartment). Bella bella.

Love Letters

2009-12-02T00:38:00.004+13:00

While we were away, my sister and I took to letter writing. She remembered that I have a thing for the artful simplicity of those Popular Penguin covers, and sent me a cheery bookmark. There are many things I love about my sister, one of them being her endearing handwriting - it hasn't really changed since she was a kid. Every time I read her letters, I see the little girl within her.

Reflections

2009-12-01T23:31:00.004+13:00

Lying in bed, dreamily watching morning light sift like sparks across the ceiling. And our cute kitchen window reflected in the old telly.

Psychedelic Sleep

2009-12-01T23:23:00.003+13:00

Someone was airing an old mattress in the afternoon sun (it had seen better days). I fell instantly in lust with those peacock green patterns.

Out For A Run

2009-12-01T22:55:00.001+13:00

I woke up early one Saturday morning to the sight of some badass sheep out for a joyride on the lawn. Escaped livestock always amuses me, and these guys were particularly skittish. Grins all round.

Decorating

2009-11-30T22:50:00.003+13:00

Our island adventure has come to an end, and now that we're back on the mainland my laptop has received some much needed TLC - let the uploads begin! We shared a little cottage up on the hill with some friends. Comfy, but a bit drab. Bits and pieces from my trusty collections of STUFF came in very handy...

Line by Line / You Reel Me In

2009-09-12T23:32:00.007+12:00

With heavy blade I cut
The slender thread
And watched those green shores
Drift far until cloud and
distance obscured the hills

“I came here to find
my heart”, said he.
And so did I. Wandering
under watered moonlight,
Through spindled trees and
dull spring rain.

Wakeful in the lamplit hours
While all are wreathed in sleep and rest

Nothing eases it.
The lemon tea and
the washing of hair,
the ‘come to bed’s and
glass lipped kisses.

But it’s this heartstring,
these old ley lines,
Now hung about with so much
washing, billowing in the wind,
throwing droplets

I am the net cast
out and spun, woven through
with silvered fish, hemming seas
in threaded palms, knotting
strands, so carelessly –

Now for the unpicking of patterns
The releasing of our fragile seams

Unfurl your feathers
snowbird, ride the cold north
wind. Nested out of
season, too long upon
my leaves, be free (love)

To you I gift soft earth
and rock. Your own self
The hidden treasures
of your depths
Full caverns of light

On the winged traveler flies
Into a brighter sun

- September 2009

Bedroom Window

2009-09-12T12:03:00.000+12:00

Stripped Bare

2009-09-06T10:20:00.008+12:00

Oh my doves, how ironic. For those of you that are unaware, I'm away from home, spending the next 3 months on a small barrier island. Before we left I posted about computers crashing, on my other site. And the first week in, that's EXACTLY what happened - massive system failure, a hard drive up in smoke and a laptop that is now nothing more than a doorstop. My boy is very nearly superman, but even he couldn't fix it. Which leaves me with no files and very little online access. So I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, nor has the black dog been biting at my heels. Instead I'm here enjoying life without connection to the rest of the world for a while, living with generated power, reading books and walking the hills. You'll know when I'm back up - lots of pretty things to share. x

Abridged

2009-08-30T18:44:00.001+12:00

Ever since The Billy Goats Gruff, I have loved bridges (I like to imagine a HUGE one between Australia and New Zealand). This is one of my favourites - a tiny walkway at the bottom of the garden. Best run over at high speed in a blaze of kinetic joy.

Through The Looking Glass

2009-08-29T21:12:00.002+12:00

The sunrise and I wandered through grasses in the early morning light, and found an upside-down world hidden in the pond.

All The Yellows

2009-08-28T17:39:00.000+12:00

Collecting yellows in the afternoon sun.

The Play Of Light

2009-08-27T19:15:00.000+12:00

Concentrics

2009-08-26T19:03:00.000+12:00

While I was getting things in order for our trip I came across some dusty old fireworks that I saved AGES ago. I was planning to use them in painting experiments (all those beautiful circles) but somehow never got around to it - something to look forward to when we get home...

In Bloom

2009-08-23T21:29:00.004+12:00

Crocuses (I like to pretend the plural is Croci), forget-me-nots and fresh ground. Spring birds are singing the cold earth to wakefulness.

There And Back Again

2009-08-09T22:38:00.001+12:00

Breathe The Free Air

2009-08-08T22:20:00.008+12:00

Snow and ice up at Ruapehu. Whenever I view these peaks from afar, I think 'damn, that mountain's got great bone structure'.

The Bearded Lady

2009-08-07T09:04:00.002+12:00

This could easily have been my handiwork, but it isn't - I opened my wallet to pay for coffee and discovered my $20 note had been cheekily customised by a previous owner. Instant grins.

The Scent of Spring

2009-08-06T16:05:00.004+12:00

The magnolia trees are budding...