Cro-Magnon goes for a walk

We are all related one way or another. But the individual who ordered this garden table from ÖoB might be an early version of Cro-Magnon. After unpacking his (or her), new table the trouble started. What to do with the packaging? Here's an idea, lets go for a walk. That usually helps to get the brain working. And, why not bring the waste with us? Maybe there's a litter bin nearby, that should do it. Turns out it didn't. So Cro-Magnon walked home again.

In Camouflage

This is a Gurkspindel,(Araniella cucurbitina). Cucumber green spider. It is 4 to 6 millimeter long. I noticed it in the web as I was out shooting photos of ladybugs (see yesterdays post).

Nyckelpiga

Nyckelpiga is the Swedish name for Ladybug. They are fun to photograph, but it's not very easy to get a good result. I used all three extension tubes and the nifty fifty for these two photos. It is impossible to shoot with the auto focus on, and tricky in general to find the correct settings. I shot these hand held sitting on the not so dry grass and was attacked by a bunch of ants during the shoot! I have read up about macro stacking and I will try that technique next time to get more depth of field. I found the ladybugs just a few meters from the old tree so I will be back here very soon.

That Old Tree

Green again.

A smooth pan

One or two warm days lately, almost Summer-like. And whenever that happens I tend to shoot photos like these. Cyclist working hard on a uphill climb at Hanveden. His bike club is Försvarets SK which means that he is in the armed forces. Second photo shows summer driving in a 1966 Pontiac Bonneville in Handen. And the last snap is how some of my panning photos turns out sometimes. No one ever said that it should be easy...

Summer Is Nearly Here

Nylända gård in Österhaninge. Next to a popular golf course. A short bike ride from Årsta castle where we can enjoy lunch. An equally short ride to the ferry port if you want to hit the archipelago. Just around the corner from the ferry port is the beach in case you want to cool down in the sea or work on your tan. And if you need a place to stay there's a few cottages at Stadsberga (also just a few hundred meters away).

Don't you forget about me

Forget-me-not. Förgätmigej in Swedish. They really are hard to forget these tiny colorful flowers.

Ye Old Farm Building

We are done with Autumn. Winter, and now Spring when it comes to this scene. Only the three Summer months left with Ye old farm building at the Välsta horse farm.

Sitting on a grass straw

Tiny bug on top of a grass straw. Shot with the nifty fifty and three extension tubes. Haven't been able to ID it yet, Some sort of "Skinnbagge" is my guess. It is a few millimeters long.

A Stand Up Guy

This is Allan. Met him in Handen. He gets around on a two-wheel self-balancing solar scooter, or powertrain. It takes around two hours to fully charge the lithium battery. Depending on the weight you can go a full Marathon distance, 42 kilometers with one of these things. Allan runs a business where you can rent a solar scooter.

Portrait of a Hipster

Took two street portraits yesterday. Can't remember when I last did that. Been such a cold and rainy Spring so the inspiration have been missing for that type of photography. This is "Mackan". Met him in Västerhaninge. His real name is Marcus but no one ever calls him that. I spotted his beard (twenty months old), and decided that it was time for a hipster portrait. Mackan lives in Tyresö (neighbouring municipality), and drives a delivery truck. When he is not busy growing his beard he enjoys motorcycles and snowboarding.

That Old Tree

Henrietta was busy looking in her binoculars after a fleeing bird when I closed in on the old tree yesterday. She told me that she often spots brown owls here. We talked a bit about the cold Spring and she then pointed me out to a gravel road in a rural landscape close to the sea that I should check out come the Summer. Later in the day I was of course on the bike when it rained hard. Has happened pretty much every day for the last few weeks now.

Where are the bikes?

I'm sure there was a meeting. And during that meeting it was decided that this area at Ramsdalsvägen needed a bike rack. Could have been a photographer that came up with the idea. Because it's a photogenic bike rack and that is of course important. But I have never seen anyone use it. It's been there for at least a year.

In Between Xposition #1

The two week long international art project Corners Haninge with artists from several counties ended over the weekend. At Bragevägen 5 in Handen a temporary youth center had been set up, open for anyone living in the apartments in the area. This part of the project was called In Between Xposition #1. People were asked to bring their own photos, videos and other stuff for everyone to see. The result, a mix of personal items that will tell a story about the locals. When I arrived a loudspeaker had been set up on the lawn telling the finished story. I was with a friend (we were on our way with cameras to the national park), and we had a look around. We did of course recognizance many places on the photos and videos, and outside again we struck up a conversation with two of the artists. They wanted to know our opinion about it all. Jim asked about something he had seen on a video. A standing stone that sits by the side of the road next to a grocery store near my favorite cafe. He was told that it was called the Bird Stone. Some sort of memorial over a lost pet. Now that really is an urban legend in the making, because it was actually Jim who made that stone and it's inscriptions! Many years ago he learned how to do that from the rune carver Kalle Runristare who creates modern rune stones. When Jim was done with the stone he wasn't sure what to do with it, but with a little help from the municipality it found it's way to where it stands today. So from today we will start to cal it he Bird Stone.

Shaun the Sheep

It will cost you 3600SEK to take Shaun home. Not very cheap at all. Found it outside the cafeteria in the Tyresta village in the national park yesterday.

Macromania

Say after me: Rödplister. Gullviva. Kabbleka.

The Safari Rally Car That Never Was

If you know your motor history you might recognize this car. It's a Peugeot 404. From 1968. The design features will tell you that it once took part in the Safari Rally. The toughest rally ever. Legendary. This car with the number 33 on it has been parked in the same spot for several years and when I passed it two days ago on my way to the cafe I decided to take a photo of it. There are two names on the side of the car. Gérard Pautonnier and Une Salope. I did an online search and found a remarkable story. Here it is: Gérard Pautonnier and Une Salope took part in the Safari Rally in 1968. They never made it to the finishing line. During a stopover in Uganda Gérard Pautonnier ended up in jail after a bar fight. Une Salope had other problems. He met a married woman and had a fling with her. He was later chased away by an angry mob. Nine months later the woman gave birth to twin boys. The owner of the car was Paul Hegesippus Adelard Ladislas. The Count of Champignac. He managed to get the car back home but it never raced again. No one knows what happened to Une Salope. Gérard Pautonnier stayed in Africa and became a preacher. Years later the Count made a business trip to the little hamlet Vikmanshyttan in Dalarna, Sweden. He arrived in the Peugeot, but left hitchhiking as he lost the car in a card game. Then, many years later when a property at Norrhyttan changes owner the car is found hidden away in an old barn. And that's where our story ends. But does it really? Not exactly, because it is a fabricated story. Made up by the Swedish motor journalist Gunnar Ljungstedt. He bought the car in Skåne and decided to have some fun. He designed the car so that it looked like a real Safari Rally car. Then he made a funny YouTube video and wrote the story that I just told you. Why? I have no idea. I guess you will have to ask Gunnar about that. Another question is how it made it's way to Handen where I found it.

Sixteen Recent Spring Snaps

A second collage of photos from this Spring that didn't make the cut on their own. Cherry blossoms at Nederstaleden in Västerhaninge. Red moss at the little tarn at Tornberga. The most unusual find was the tree medals from the Lidingö Run. Found them near the Power Plant in Jordbro. A cottage at the Rudan nature reserve that i shoot every now and then. Vinbergssnäcka on a rusty barrel next to eleven rusty beds that Jim and I found while shooting snaps at the future commuter station at Vega. Black hood on red car, shot from the pedestrian bridge. Gullviva macro from Vega. Porsche Boxter, another shot from the bridge. A little hill in Österhaninge that I like. Tree bud macro from the old tree. Art installation, part of Corners Haninge at Poseidon's Square in Handen. Blue flower found in the mud where the new commuter station is being built. Tulips planted by the municipality on a lawn next to a few apartment buildings in Handen. Bronze Age grave at the big burial ground in Jordbro. A few newly built houses at Vega, no one lives there yet. Cloud reflection from the tarn at Tornberga nature reserve.

The Black Sheep

There is one in every family. Troublemaker in the pasture at Glasbergavägen in Lida yesterday.

Smells like almond

Using my new extension tubes lately I have been spending a lot of time crawling around on grassy fields. You have to go low down to spot the tiny plants growing everywhere. This herb is called Mandelblomma. Mandel means Almond in Swedish and the flower smells a bit like almond. The English name is meadow saxifrage. It is a very tiny flower, just a few millimeters wide. It groves on a little hill side not far from the old tree. I didn't know the name of it so I asked my blogging friend Lasse who came to the rescue.

The Fastest Decorator Ever?

If you want a quick job Stefan Kristoffersson is your man.

The Red Nestbox

This was the scene in the little birch forest near the old Söderby Gård in Handen earlier in the week. It was a big hit on flickr, generated 13 000 views in just a day.

A Future Commuter Station

Vegastaden or Vega City has been a long time coming. It's been discussed, planned, re-discussed, changed and changed again for more than thirty years. Construction have now finally begun. When this new part of Handen is done around 10 000 people will live in the 3000 new homes in Vega City. And for that many people you need good communications so earlier this week work began on a new commuter station that will be ready in 2019. To see how Vegastaden will look in the future follow this link. The railway track is just behind the flags. For a view from above of the future city have a look at this PDF. If you have good eyes you can spot a few of the first new houses on the hill far away.

Turning Stockholm inside out

Riding my bike across Poseidon's Square two days ago I noticed a Van parked near the tunnel where there's no cars allowed. A few people were busy setting something up. My first thought was that they were street vendors setting up shop. A closer look and I figured they were selling bags. A third look and I notice a woman wearing a jacket in the same design as the bags. Turns out this is an international art project. More info here. This is called Oh My Home-Lost&Found. And as it was an art project I did an arty thing myself so this is two photos stacked together. By doing that I got the girl in the yellow rubber boots in the photo and that is always a good thing.

Closed between Bird Cherry and Lilac

There once was a cordwainer (skomakare), who closed shop this time of the year. He put a sign on the door. It read: Closed between Bird Cherry and Lilac. Stängt mellan hägg och syren. True or not, I don't know, but it's a fine story. The period between when the two plants bloom is for many Swedes their favorite time of the year. My grandparents had Bird Cherry on their veranda and I will never forget that fragrance. We used to sit there and drink coffee and my grandmothers home made "kubbar". I found this "Hägg" along the bike path in Handen yesterday.

Anonymous Letter

I received an anonymous letter in the mail yesterday. It contained two things. This piece of paper in classic ransom note style, it reads: A competitor to you? Signed The Snitch. The second item in the letter was a business card with an url to a photo blog about Haninge. This blog about Haninge has been here for a decade so I don't think we need another one on the world wide web! The detective in me started working on the note and the card, but I couldn't identify the fingerprints, so I had to dig deeper. And it paid off. I will not name names but I do think I have a photo of the anonymous, (female) writer (C), and a person very close to her (M), whom I suspect is the anonymous blogger in question. Oh, and I have previously spotted C both at my local cafe and in the greenhouse in the park in Tungelsta. I don't miss much...

Retirement Home & Preschool

Back in February I showed you a photo of what will be a preschool and a retirement home at Lillgården in Tungelsta. This is how the building site looks today. Lots of apartments as well when they are done here in a years time or so. I will post updates every now and then.

A Little Tarn

Tornberga, (the hill with the tower), was made a nature reserve a few years ago. This little tarn a hundred meters from the top of the hill is known as Tornbergasjön. I used to come here as a kid with my parents. It was always fun balancing on the foot-bridges. Back then there was a tower on the hill. In fact there used to be two towers. At 111 meters above sea level it is the highest point on Södertörn. During WWII my paternal grandfather sat in one tower spying for foreign war planes. As a teenager I visited the tarn with my friends. We used to camp here and sing songs by the open fire at night. Both towers are long gone, but a new one will be built here this year. Hopefully you will be able to see both the archipelago and Stockholm from the new tower. Walking in the wetland at the tarn I found this kochenillav, or Red pixie cup, (lichen), growing in the bryophyte. It's a only a few millimeter wide. Obviously it began to rain the second I started shooting.

Spring Colors

A yellow Forsythia flower against a clear blue sky. It grows next to the path that leads to the old tree. Found the "Prästkrage" while taking some photos at a construction site in Handen. The red flowers on the third photo are called Rosenrips. This one grows at a bike stand near the pedestrian tunnel that will take you to the Rudan nature reserve in Handen, it was a tricky shoot at it was very windy. And as I got permission from some of you to shoot a second Sakura photo here it is. All photos taken with the help of my extension tubes.

Allévägen

If you follow this blog you have probably seen this road before. This is Allévägen. The trees were planted by the owner of the Hammar Estate two centuries ago. Some of the trees have been replaced but it looks good in mid-Spring don't you think? You will find the estate where the road turns.

Vote For Nobody Nobody Cares

If we follow this advise, Rösta på ingen ingen bryr sig that I found in Handen yesterday made by an unknown street artist, the revolution might be around the corner, so to be sure I had a look around the corner and I have nothing more to report. Theme Day at CityDailyPhoto. Revolution.