Santa Hanging On For Dear Life

I hope he makes it.

The bus arrived. To no avail.

Do you like Six Word Stories? I do. This is one. Made from two sentences. Perhaps not as good as the one Hemingway wrote, but good enough for me. I shot the photo today. In Handen. A grey and rainy day, and I really feel for the people who were waiting for this bus...

A Mother & Daughter Thing

This is Jennifer and Ulrika, daughter and mother. I met them at the Christmas market at Tyresta on Saturday. They were selling their home made candles. Jennifer makes gel candles, and her mother Ulrika, who has her own business, are into decorative molded candles. None of the candles in their stall were lit, which was probably a good thing, as it was raining most of the day!

The Chef

Meet the Chef. Linda Klasson. She's The Lady in Red. Her assistant of the day, the woman with the green scarf is her mother, Inger. They were at the Tyresta Christmas market on Saturday selling some of Linda's home made produce. Linda has a business called Glöd Vildmarkskök. Which means The Wilderness Kitchen. And that is Linda's speciality. Cooking in the wild. She will often take her clients out on an adventure in the wild, sometimes in the woods around Tyresta, and as this is a National Park she has a permission to do so. And what will she serve? How about Grilled Whitefish with a mustard creme? Or maybe you prefer the Moose Burger with Västerbotten Cheese. Or you could choose the Wilderness Buffet with salmon and reindeer sausage. Sound delicious if you ask me.

Santa and the musicians

I visited the Christmas market at Tyresta today. Tyresta is a historical village and a well known national park in Haninge. The market took place at the square at the tiny village and there were a few stalls with food and handicraft, and I will show you some more photos and portraits in the coming days. One of the first people that I met today was Santa! If he looks familiar it's because I photographed him at another market one year ago. His real name is Ronny.After talking to him I heard some music. It was these two guys who decided to cheer up the crowds by performing a few Christmas Carols in the rain. I stayed around for a little over one hour before jumping back on my bicycle for a somewhat wet 15 kilometre ride home.

An exclusive with Bob Dylan

The latest issue of Situation Stockholm features an interview with Bob Dylan. I bought my copy from Stefan whom I meet in Västerhaninge on Wednesday. If you would like to read the Dylan interview you can find it at SNS. Stefan said that it was a cold morning today but that a lot of people came up for a talk and quite a few of them bought a copy. As I always do when I take a portrait I gave Stefan a MOO card, he said he didn't know much about flickr and blogs, but figured his twelve year old daughter was more up to date with the internet.
About the paper, Situation Stockholm started back in 1995 inspired by The Big Issue in Great Britain.

A Swedish Marine Soldier

This is Roger. A man in uniform. But only for one more day. Tomorrow he will be a civilian again after finishing his Call-Up. He has done his eleven month long National Service at the Amphibious Regiment at Berga in Haninge. Also known as The 1st Marine Regiment. His immediate plan is to get a job as a security guard. In the future he is hoping for a career in the military. He might sign up ISAF which means that he could end up in Afghanistan.

Glowing Greenhouse

December started with a very colorful sunset in Tungelsta. This was the view from my front door at Bergdalen yesterday afternoon. Looks a bit like the sunset I showed you two years ago. You are looking at a greenhouse that we built back in 1990. These days it's owned by Ingemar and Danuta at Blomorado, but just as back then this time of the year it's filled with thousands of poinsettia plants. Oh, and if you would like to see how the glowing greenhouses look from the top of the hill press here.

Waiting Around

I often approach people that look like they are waiting for something. Like this group of great peeps that all took their time posing for a portrait and who also happily answered a few of my questions while waiting. You can find all of them on this blog. Rosanna and Lisa were waiting for a bus. Ida was waiting for her mother. Max and Sabina sat on a bench at a commuter station. Mikael and Bosse where waiting for a photo opportunity. Alexander for a fish to bite. Emma was waiting for the bus home. Michelle was waiting for a ride on the same bench as Petronella and Bettina who was waiting for the train. John's bike had broken down and he waited for assistance to arrive. The trainspotter Benjamin from Germany was waiting for a freight train to pass. The ice-fisher Nils was waiting out on the frosen lake. Andreas with the broken Harley was waiting for help. Rolf was waiting for the King of the Forest. Malin was waiting to become a mother. Finally Stina who was waiting for the bus.

Today is theme day and as you have probably already guessed the theme for December is Waiting. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

The Homestead Society

Three photos from the Christmas Market that the homestead society arranged in Västerhaninge yesterday. On the top photo you can see Hans Widfond, the chairman of the society, Haninge Hembygdsgille, standing outside the Erikslunds cottage. A building that the society successfully has moved from Ramsdalen near Tyresta, to it's new location at the old courthouse in Västerhaninge that these days serves as the society's headquarters. The little cottage is now all that remains from what once was a small farm (3 ha), in rural Haninge. The farm was bought in 1870 by Per Erik Pehrsson and his wife Anna Sofia Forssberg. It was a tough life working as a farmer, and the family also operated a small laundry business. Their grandson Yngve Pettersson was interviewed by the historian and author Henry Hall from the society many years ago, and if you understand Swedish you can read more if you download these two PDF files from Haninge.org. On my visit yesterday I looked through a photo album with around 100 photos from Erikslund. Both old ones and some recent pictures from the work of tearing down and reassembling the building.

Cheers!

I visited the Christmas market in Västerhaninge today. Arranged by the homestead society Haninge Hembygdsgille. They served glögg (Mulled wine) and pepparkakor (Gingerbread cookies). Here you see me in the old Janstorp cottage with Anita Stjernström, one of the members of the society, she's also the author of a book about a (historical), murder story at Näringsberg. The dress that Anita is wearing is a regional costume from Österhaninge. I will show a few more photos from this event tomorrow. Cheers!

Oh, and if you are curious. This photo was taken by a woman who wanted to be known at the baker! She's the one to the left on this photo (link).

At the market

I stopped at the Jordbro shopping mall today. A few times every year there is a flee market there in one of the corridors. You will find the usual items, old books, DVD's, mobile phone chargers, and some clothing. I didn't find anything I needed, but I did meet Tarja Rönningstam. She had more of a Christmas sale going on. She told me that she often sell her items at different markets, mostly in Uppland near Tierp (North of Stockholm),but today she was in Haninge.

How many men does it take...

...to fix whatever it is that this guy is doing. The answer is one. I spotted this guy yesterday. Looks like he is setting up a surveillance camera at Hanveden. Hanveden is a former borrow pit in Västerhaninge, turned into a sports ground. I have played a few soccer matches here and also competed for my school in track and field a few eons ago. There's also an ice hockey arena at Hanveden, and lots of trails for joggers in the forest here. I could be breaking the rules about the Skywatch idea here as I obviously should have taken this photo from below!
Skywatch Friday.

Third time's the charm

This is Beki. I have met her twice before this year and asked her for a portrait, and today at Lake Rudan, she said yes, so it really pays to be persistent! She's a former rhetoric student at the university in Stockholm, so I'm very happy that I managed to persuade to pose for a portrait! Beki lives in Handen, she's currently on maternity leave and is often out walking with her dog Luna, a mastiff, and her baby son Marley. Beki is an artist, a professional singer. Although at the moment it's more of a hobby. She used to sing funk and hip-hop, but these days it's more spiritual music and Gospel and she has performed in a few churches.

The Moose Truck

Arriving home today I saw this truck parked outside the Blomorado greenhouses. From Allan Svenssons Åkeri AB in Strömsnäsbruk. The truck driver told me that the company has six trucks. All airbrushed with different animals. This is the moose truck. With two Moose's painted on the truck. Mr. Moose and Miss Moose. Oh, and the truck delivered soil to the plant nursery run by Danuta and Ingemar.