Coffee & cake in the gallery garden

I needed a few photos of triangles for the Theme Day tomorrow so I took the bike down to the art gallery in Österhaninge yesterday. Nice enough weather to have coffee and home-baked cake in the garden. It was actually a bit warmer than it looks here. Left the winter jacket at home, and rode my Steel Horse in a t-shirt and a sweater. On my way to the gallery I noticed a bird circling overhead, and using my Tamron at 300mm this was as close I could get of the Common Buzzard.

Tree Lined Alley

I often photograph this tree lined alley at the Nödesta farm. It is quite photogenic in both Summer, Autumn and Winter as I have showed you here over the years. This is how it looks at the moment. No sign of any green here just yet so I will probably check in again soon.

Blue & Yellow

A winter windflower is always a good sign of Spring. After a few cold days we are having more Spring like weather this weekend. A blue sky and around 12 C as I'm typing this.

A sign of Spring

One reliable sign of Spring in Haninge is when the roundabouts starts blooming. This one can be found in Jordbro and is one of two entryways to the industrial park. Six years ago I photographed a gardener in this roundabout, and got a fun coincidence story while doing so. You can read that one here.

That Old Tree

I have never experienced stronger headwind than I did yesterday on my way to the old tree. It was brutal. I stood up on the bike and pedalled for all I had and hardly moved forward at all. It was only 5C so it felt like a winter day. This is my 371th photo of the Swedish Whitebeam.

A bit of Spring yellow

This wild daffodil grows on a small grassy hill close to the old tree. There are no houses at the hill today, but back in the 1940s Kjell Bergqvist's family lived and worked here and I would like to think that it was someone from his family that perhaps planted this "påsklilja" near their home. You can see a few old photos from Välsta at his blog in this post: fobbart.blogspot.se/2012/11/den-gamla-oxeln-i-valsta.html

Pimping My Ride

Maybe I should have gone with the x-dirt 20 instead of the Steel Horse? That is the bike that the kid in the ad is riding. Biltema is a good place for cheap spare parts to the bike, car or anything really. On my visit yesterday to the store in Handen I bought a Bottle Cage and Adapter Mount for the Steel Horse. Costed me 20 SEK. That is under three US Dollar.

What's this then?

Jujja and the archaeologist Roger Wikell were at the cafe in Handen today. They had found this thing at a quarry in Farsta. Looks like some sort of scale. On the scale you can read 9500 9700 9900 and 10100. Bit of a mystery so far what has been used for.

Is it a bird?

You are being watched. The government has a secret system: a machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I know, because I built it. Well maybe not, but I was at the park in Handen yesterday when I heard something flying over my head. A six winged flying contraption, or maybe a drone, not really sure what it should be called. Had a chat with the guy who controlled it. A real geek. He had bought in in Thailand. It had six motors, a very impressive camera set-up, he explained all the technical facts and we also discussed all the permits you need to have if you want to use this commercially. He could fly it up to 100 meters and showed a few photos from above Handen, Jordbro and Lake Rudan.

Tribute to Helene Ripa

At the 5km mark to Tungelsta (in Västerhaninge),you can now see this little tribute to the Paralympic Champion Helene Ripa. Guldbyn means The Gold Village.

Spring 2.0

If you close your eyes the weather will have changed when you open them again. This morning the sky was blue. Nearly all the recent snow was gone. The temperature at the moment is 11C and rising. The only thing that I can complain about is that it is very windy. I haven't shot a real street portrait since I photographed Madde back in September of last year, but I might have a go at that later today. I found the Spring flowers at Nederstaleden before the latest snow fall.

A snowy walk

Two weeks on and I still feel the effects from that Russian virus that the brother brought back with him from Russia. So I haven't been out much with the camera for a while. Vårdagjämningen (vernal equinox), will happen later today, but it doesn't really feel very Spring like today. This photo shows the red stable at the Nödesta farm, shot as I made my way towards the old tree during yesterdays snow fall.

That Old Tree

One week ago the sun was shining from a clear blue sky. It was 12C and I took several bike rides in the Spring weather. Not going to happen this week.

Bike in the snow

Another photo from yesterday. A bicycle parked near the museum in the park in Tungelsta. I think I know the owner, the bike was still there today, but the thin layer of snow wasn't. I did take the Steel Horse for ride earlier, and it did of course snow a bit just then, and it was a bit windy so that wasn't very nice at all. Arriving back home I have now shampooed the bike.

Winter returns...again

This was the scene at the greenhouse in the park in Tungelsta this morning. A fresh coat of snow covered the lawn.

Cold & Windy

Too cold for me this morning. The temperature said 0C, add to that the storm winds and I decided to leave the bike at home and go for a promenade instead. But I did see a few tough cyclists, like this girl along Södertäljevägen.

Angst

Not much happening here apparently. The information board near the Bronze Age grave field at Jordbro looks a bit sad. Just one word written on it Ångest. Angst.

Armored Modular Vehicle

Made in Finland by Patria. This is the armoured wheeled vehicle in the Swedish defence force known as Pansarterrängbil 203. This is an ambulance version. I spotted it in Handen yesterday as I was shooting a panorama at a building site and managed to get a few shots before it passed me, the driver waved at me so I waved back.

Back at the cafe

For different reasons I hadnt enjoyed coffee at my favorite cafe for a while, when I heard and read a few rumours that Malmens Konditori was closing. Luckily that wasn't the case, the owner, Henrik is leaving, he will set up a new cafe in Tyresö (I checked on the map, and I will have to ride 26 extra kilometres for his pastries in the future), but Malmens Konditori will continue under a new owner, although we don't know yet who that might be. This was the scene there yesterday when I was having coffee with a friend. At the next table local legend Tompa Eken was giving me the finger while Lasse waved a hello and the unknown woman preferred to just smile a bit.

Fallen Milestone

This is an old Milestone from around 1770. You can find it next to the Biofuel Power Plant in Jordbro. Someone out ploughing snow didn't see it, and this was the result. It didn't happen this Winter, but two Winters ago, and it still looks like this. How hard can it be to fix that?

Tussilago

The tussilago is usually the first sign of Spring in my neck of the woods, but this year it was beaten by both the crocus, and the snowdrop. Making my way towards the old tree yesterday there it was.

Helene Ripa

The skier Helene Ripa, from Tungelsta won gold in the Paralympic games at Sochi today. Hurrah!

Bug pile

A sign of Spring. The firebugs are out and about again.

A Swedish Sky

This was the first real day of Spring. Double digit centigrade weather.With a lot of Spring sounds around. Kids playing soccer. Birdsong. Mopeds & motorcycles.

The Steel Horse

This is the Steel Horse. A retro bike in classic design. And my new bike. Made from TIG welded steel. Size 57 cm. A single speed, fixed gear groovy looking black racer from Stålhästen. After the first test ride I discovered a few new muscles! This will be a good workout every ride. It weighs 13 kilo. It has 28-inch Kenda wheels. The saddle and grips are brown leather. I will probably show you more photos of it in the future. This photo is shot using the Brenizer method so it is around 20 photos shot with the 85mm lens and then stitched together.

That Old Tree

Josefine out riding near the old tree today. She's a young jockey, starting to make a name for herself in the sport. Josefine lives at the Mulsta horse farm, and you have met her here before.

The sound from a camera

That is often all the Roe Deer need to hear before they run off. And that is exactly what happened this time as well. Luckily for me I managed to grab one or two quick snaps before they disappeared into the birch forest at Välsta in Tungelsta. Still not feeling too well. I took the Roe Deer photo a while back, and as I didn't have anything better to do I made it into a poladroid.

Temmeltisdag

The plan was to take the bike out for a spin today. But just the effort used to pump the back tire of my new bike made me exhausted. Luckily for me I managed to get to and from the convenient store without collapsing, so as it is Temmetisdag in Sweden today I will be enjoying a Semla later this afternoon.

Only a temporary setback

Waking up after 48 hours with a Russian virus (brought home by my brother who visited Saint Petersburg and Moscow),I walked down to the mailbox to get the morning paper. A thin layer of snow could be seen around the crocus, so I decided to grab the camera and snap a photo.

People on the street

Theme Day. People on the street. In my book that can only mean portraits of people on the street with their own unique styles. Like these group of trendy people I have met in and around Haninge in the last few years. Meet Sandra, Kimmy and Ellinor. Anthon, Kim and Emil. Tove, Alex and Mary. I'm currently in bed with a Russian virus, but hopefully I will soon be out on the street again looking for new street portraits.