Frozen Elephants

A sculpture called Playing Elephants, but I think Frozen Elephants is a better title today. The artwork was made by the artist Bror Marklund. It's an early work by Marklund, who lived in Tungelsta for a few years. He later became one of Sweden's best known sculptors. The elephants can today be seen on the lawn in front of the library in Västerhaninge.

The Joy of Winter

Two photos from the commuter station in Västerhaninge. Very typical for this winter I think. The blue bicycle's owner must be as fed up with all the snow as I am. It's been parked there all winter. Press here to see how it looked just three weeks ago. If we get any more snow it will soon be totally covered with the white stuff. The second photo made me laugh. There has been a lot of snow shovelling at the station for the last two months. But for some reason they have decided to not remove the snow from the benches! When I took these photos the sun was shining from a clear blue sky. And the trains were delayed, so I for one would have enjoyed resting on that bench for a few minutes in the winter sunshine.

Winter Avenue

The cold winter isn't giving up, but there has been two days now with a blue sky (at least for a few hours, and every minute counts). This is Allévägen at Hammar in Tungelsta. I can normally be seen here almost every day of the year on my bike, but not this winter. It's been way too icy. I don't mind biking in cold weather, it's just a matter of dressing correctly, but the roads are to slippery and the side-walks and bike paths haven't been cleared from all the snow so my bike has been in the cellar since Lucia. Oh, and if you want to see how this road will look in a few months time, check out this post from May 2009.

Skywatch Friday.

A Trio on a Thin Tin Roof

There has been many snow related accidents this winter. A few weeks ago many roofs started to collapse all over the country.Tennis halls, old barns and more. Not surprising as we've had around one meter of snow in the last 10 weeks. So everywhere you look these days there's people up on the roofs working hard to remove all the snow to prevent further accidents. Like here on a garage roof at Nederstaleden in Västerhaninge. The hard working trio told me that it was a very thin roof here, and that can't be very good. The young woman who is on her way up onto the roof, via the tractor on the first photo, was afraid of heights but she had to overcome that fear on this occasion.

Winter vs. Autumn

Time for another now and then diptych. To the left how the restaurant at Allévägen in Tungelsta looks this winter with lots of snow and a very icy road. To the right how it looked back in September 2007 as a few workers where giving the old building a new layer of paint. The restaurant has changed name (and owners), a few times in recent years. They have Karaoke nights here quite often, so you will never find me in there. This was once the post office and before that a Konsum grocery store. When I was a kid it was a cafe here where I used to play pinball machines with my friends. They also served delicious meatball sandwiches back then. Today it's more of a pizza place, and in the summer time the veranda will always be filled with thirsty beer lovers.

Winter is after all one of the four seasons in this country

We've had some seriously bad weather in the last few days. With record breaking snow falls the traffic situation has been in complete chaos. Yesterday morning it was -20C and people were asked to stay home as public transport had completely collapsed. Commuters have been stuck in trains for up to ten hours, because of ice and snow problems. I could go on and on about what has happened, but if you are interested it's better that you read about it at The Local. The photo here is a moped that has been parked outside an apartment building here in Tungelsta for two months now. I'm guessing it belongs to a very winter tired teenager.

(the title of this post is from a quote by the Prime Minister).

ǝɹnʇıuɹnɟ ɹoopʇno

ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʍ ƃuol ɐ llıʇs sı ƃuıɹds


˙pɐǝɥ ɹnoʎ uo ƃuıpuɐʇs ʎɹʇ sıɥʇ ƃuıpɐǝɹ ʎʇlnɔıɟɟıp ǝʌɐɥ noʎ ɟı

Gold & Bronze

Sweden won two medals in the men's 30 km pursuit race, also called the skiathlon, at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver yesterday. Marcus Hellner won the Gold, and Johan Olsson took the Bronze, after one of the most exciting ski races I have ever seen. It was perfect team work in a individual race that landed Sweden two medals. At one time Olsson led by thirty seconds and further back Hellner and Södergren did their best to slow down the rest of the field. It really was an amazing win.

Whose that face in the window?

That I don't know, but if you would have looked in through that window a century ago you would probably have spotted a few pigs as this is an old pigsty. Or a bunch of hens, as it was also used as a hen-house back then. The picturesque old building is owned by Anna-Greta, the knitter that you met a week ago. All this was news to me as I had always thought this little cottage to be just that, an old cottage, and a bit older. But it sure looks good in this winter setting. Anna-Greta told me that one hundred years ago it was a very modern pigsty with a working drainage system and with a concrete wall between the pigsty and hen-house areas. Live and learn.

Winter Construction

Despite the long winter a few new houses are still being built at Ålsta in Tungelsta. I started shooting the changes in this area five years ago. Back then there was a few plant nurseries, a stable and a few houses here. Five years on it's hard to believe that it's the same place. If you have a few hours check out the slideshow.




Skywatych Friday.

The Off Season

It's the off-season for both middle age amateur gardeners, and young semi-professional trampoliners as you can see on the first photo, taken the other day at a garden at Fornminnesvägen in Tungelsta. The newish owners (who I don't know, but I know that they have seen some of my photos), have completely rebuilt the old house, (second photo is from my flickr archive). For many years a man called Sven Persson lived here. He was a bit of an original. He was a socialist and well known for his strong believes. I think he had a big collection of political posters in his cellar. I was actually contacted by a historian last year who wanted some info about Mr Persson. I told him what I knew, but he had already received that same information from a few other people, including the now deceased Mr. Wall who knew everything about everyone and who lived in this beautiful house.

The Winter Chair (and a bonus mosaic)

The long and cold winter continues. In my latest photo project I return every now and then to a chair that stands on a lawn near a swimming pool in Tungelsta. This is my fourth visit this winter.





And continuing on my new series with Swedish Gold Medal winners from the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, this is Björn Ferry. His win yesterday in the Men's 12.5 km pursuit will go down in the history books as one of the biggest surprises ever. I can guarantee that it will win him this years Bragdguld. Ferry started the race in eight place, more than one minute behind the winner from the sprint competition. The Austrian Christoph Sumann took silver and Frenchman Vincent Jay won the bronze medal.

The Olympic Champion

Charlotte Kalla screaming of joy after winning the women's 10K cross-country race at the Vancouver Olympics on Tuesday. The winning time was 24.58,4. Heja Sverige! It was her first Olympic race. Not a bad start! Anna Haag, finished in fourth place, in her Olympic debut. All photos in this mosaic are from Haninge and I shot these during a few weeks last year.

Winter Hammock

Here is the answer to yesterdays photo riddle.

This is one of two hammocks outside the Syskonstugan (school and Kindergarten), in Tungelsta. I didn't see any tracks in the snow, which probably means that the kids are playing elsewhere this time of the year.

A Photo Riddle

I took this cool winter photo during my winter promenade around Tungelsta yesterday. You now have 24 hours to figure out what this snow grid really is. When the time is up I will post another photo here with the answer. All I will say is that the photo was taken from above and that you only see a part of the object. So start guessing! The winner (if there is one), could perhaps post another photo riddle. On said promenade I met Ida and Tony. At least I think it was them. So hello again!

Remember me?

Walking past the stable and horse pasture at Mulsta the other day ago I spotted a few horses enjoying their lunch. Apparently hay was on the menu on this day, who knew horses ate that? Anyway, this is Furda. An Icelandic horse. You have met her before. Back then she had to point out that she actually was a horse. Today I think no one would mistake Furda for anything but a horse.

A little red cottage

On my photo walk yesterday I met the owner of Hammar. Her name is Charlotte. Her family has lived at the estate since 1816 when the Upmark family bought three farms, Tuna, Tunatorp and Krigslida and the two villages, Mulsta and Välsta in Tungelsta. There's a beautiful 100 meter long tree line avenue leading up to the estate, you can see it on a few of my earlier photos from Hammar. When we met yesterday we talked a bit about the coming changes in the area, before I decided to take a few new shots of some of the buildings here. This is one of two identical "Enkelstugor" (small wooden cottage). To the right you can see Charlotte's car. It's been parked there since the first snow fall back in mid-December.

The Knitter

Over the last few years I have seen a new type of street art around Vadet in Tungelsta. A number of trees have been fitted with what looks like knitted leg warmers. Yesterday as I was taking some photos of the colorful works of art the artist arrived home so I decided to walk over for a chat. This is Anna-Greta. Her family has owned Vadet for a century. We have never met before, but before I had time to introduce myself she asked if I was that Steffe guy who takes so many photos! As both our families have lived in Tungelsta for a century we had a few things to talk about. Phone numbers was one thing we discussed. My great grandfathers phone number was #1. Anna-Greta's family had #3. That was back when there was a switchboard operator. But I actually know Gretas current phone number, just by knowing that digit. The street art knitting is of course illegal which Anna-Greta pointed out to me when I asked if I could take her portrait, but I'm quite sure that the cops won't be calling her any time soon. Even if they have her number.

That Old Tree

Sometime this week it will be decided where the new racecourse for horses will be located. It stands between Södertälje and Haninge. If Haninge gets it it will be built here at Västa. It's going to be a massive race park and it will of course be a big injection for the local economy. I think it is a bad idea as I like this area as it is, but unfortunately it's not up to me to decide. Anyway, this is another look at the old tree. I had to walk through deep snow to get there this time, but it was worth the walk I think. If you have a few hours, sit back and enjoy the slideshow with 206 photos of the old tree taken by me over the last five years.

The Snow Dumper

A few days ago I showed you a photo from a supermarket in Västerhaninge where a parking lot had been turned into a snow dumping site. Today as I walked down Mulsta road in Tungelsta (heading for the old tree), there was suddenly a lot of traffic on the normally quiet road. I counted around ten trucks passing me. All filled with snow. So in the next few days (or weeks), the open fields around Nedersta will be filled with even more snow. If you follow this link you can see the fields without the snow. The truck on the top photo is unloading the snow exactly where my bike is parked. I guess this is a good place to dump the snow, and hopefully they have the permission from the farmer (or perhaps from one of his daughters), at Nedersta to do so. There are a few ski tracks here, and who knows, if the snow pile gets high enough maybe they can create a slalom course here, (poor joke of the day). And I'm guessing it will be a few months before all the snow will be gone.

Winter Logging

As I understand it winter logging is a good way to protect understory plants. And as all roads are frozen this time of the year they are able to support the weight of a logging machine loaded with fresh-cut timber. So this is probably a good time for some timber harvesting. I spotted this logging machine from Holmen Skog (the largest forest owner in the country), at Lyngstavägen in Västerhaninge today. From here the wood will be transported to one of Holmen's sawmills.

What to do with all the snow

One of the problems this winter has been to find places to dump all the snow. It's illegal to dump the snow in the sea, so now it looks like the snow removal people are running out of good places. If I was in charge I would order out all the school kids and have them build igloos all over the place.

Spring Vs. Winter

This is Stabergs Road. Not far from the old tree. This is a shortcut to Västerhaninge from Nedersta. I stopped here just a day ago to shoot the winter part of this photo. The left part of the diptych is from May 2005. Up ahead to the right is the old farm, with the red cottage that I showed you a while back. If you want to see the coolest ever photo I have taken here, press here.

Let's Meet For Coffee in the Park

I have a feeling that it will be a while before we can enjoy a cup of coffee here at the park in Tungelsta. But when the time comes, just walk over to the cafe and order a cup OK? But, believe it or not, I did see a few tables outside the cafe in Västerhaninge that opened last winter.

And Then The Roof Caved In

A steel roof at a warehouse gave in to the pressure from all the snow at the Coca Cola brewery in Jordbro yesterday. At the time of the accident a few workers were up on the roof. No one was injured. The weather has been quite bad in the south of the country in the last day or so with many accidents. When the rescue services arrived they decided to evacuate the plant. The hole measured 10 by 20 meters and production at the plant was stopped. The staff was sent home for the day and the responsible construction company arrived to asses the damages. That means that at least three people that you have met here got the day off. Camilla, Stina, and Micke. From where I shot this it was impossible to see any of the damages to the plant.

You Just Can't Win!

It's never a good idea to get on the wrong side with the local snow plough driver. You just can't win. Found this car parked at Löparstigen in Tungelsta. I guess it will take some effort to get it out from all the snow. But there is some good news, as it looks like the windshield wipers will work just fine!

(Update, this photo was published in the big morning paper DN today, so hurrah for that!)

A Puzzled Face

How long will this go on for? The winter I mean. I'm not much of a winter sports person, so I really don't see the need for all this snow. And as the Winter Olympics are being held in Canada that's where any snow fall should be directed. I'm lobbying for an early spring. I'm hoping to influence the correct people whoever they are. Oh, and if you are wondering about the self portraits that seem to pop up every now and then, it's just something to do to get away from all the snow photos. And it's quite fun to photoshop stuff. A few years ago I did the 365 project over at flickr. This time I will only shoot a photo per week or so.

Would You Like To Sit Down?

Two snowed in wooden benches and works of art. Perfect for the February theme day. This type of circular bench is called Rondo. It was designed by the sculptor Lennart Andersson whom I met as he was working on them back in July of 2008. So if you would like to see him in action press here. I often sit on this bench when it's not covered in snow. And I have also shot a portrait here. I called that post, A Meeting at the Rondo. You will find the benches on a lawn next to the library in Västerhaninge. They are very close to the commuter station so people will often sit here and wait for the bus or the train, just like Carolin did.

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