No Service

The commuter station in Tungelsta will get a face lift, again. The train service to Stockholm and Nynäshamn stopped one week ago and this is how the platform looks today. When they are done it will look very different compared with today. Illustration here.

Getting Noticed

Hey look, it's that guy on the bridge again, taking photos! Always fun when people, in this case a happy biker and a curious car enthusiast notice me. I'm standing on a wooden bridge that crosses Gudöbroleden, a busy road in Handen. The car is a Cadillac DeVille from 1970.

Chillin By The Pool

This is Anna. She was with her friend Sandy when I spotted them in VH on Friday. They were waiting for a taxi to take them to the old castle at Häringe. She was going for some poolside hanging at the famous pool. Just like Greta Garbo and Joséphine Baker have done before her. Anna is a talented singer and will often perform at baptisms and similar events. She also enjoys painting.

Sandy

This is Sandy. I spotted her and a friend in Västerhaningw yesterday. She has done some modeling. Her hobbies include photography and painting. When we met she was on her way to the Lost &Found pool party at Häringe Castle. lostandfoundswed.com/

News of the Stupid

The silliest news article that I have read this year has to do with the Swedish Postal Service, or Postnord as it is called today. For as long as I can remember all their vehicles have been painted yellow, cars, trucks and bicycles. So they are very recognizable. But not for much longer. The brain trust in the company have decided to repaint all vehicles, so soon this mail carrier will be riding a blue painted bicycle. It will work so much better.And probably not cost anything at all!

Ye Old Farm House

My tenth photo of the old farm house at the Välsta horse farm. And the first summer photo of three. Although you could ask, what Summer? So far this months we have had two (2), warm Summer days! It's been mostly cold, wet and windy. I could go on and on about the missing Summer, but I don't have the energy to do that!

Jungle Gym

Building site snap from a few days ago. After uploading the roof construction photo to flickr I struggled a bit with a good title but then flickrs new auto tagging system stepped in and added the tag Jungle Gym.

Another Secret Message

That secret society in Handen is at it again. I have deciphered dechiffered this new message and I think it means that the end of the world is coming. Or maybe that their next scheduled meeting have been canceled because of unforeseen circumstances.

Team Rynkeby

I met Team Rynkeby Stockholm in Västerhaninge yesterday. They cycle for charity every year. Mainly for Barncancerfonden (Children With Cancer), and they will ride down to Paris in July. More info in English here. When I met them they were out on a 120 km ride.

22-Pistepirkko

Out chasing that Finnish rock band in the wet grass. Try saying Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata a few times. We call this tiny (3 to 5mm long), ladybug Tjugotvåprickig nyckelpiga.

A favorite word

One of the morning papers are making a list with the most beautiful Swedish words. Everyone could join in. Since it's raining and I can't go for a bike ride I added the word Cykelväder. Or in English bike-weather. Maybe that will help to change the weather! Here is a collage of recent snaps of cyclists.

what3words

We celebrate Midsummer today. It will be a wet and rainy affair. Staying indoors sounds nice, which is a shame. This was the old tree earlier in the week. Did you know about what3words? If not check it out.

No-Name Knot

I have been spending a lot of time shooting macro photos lately. Beetles, bugs and bees and what have you. This was a bit of a surprise. Grass stalks that had been tied together by another type by grass. I wonder what knot that is.

Alex

A couple of days ago I spotted two guys on skateboards. One of them looked rather stylish so I headed that way and asked him if I could shoot a portrait. That's when we recognized each other. I took Alex's portrait a little over four years ago. His style has changed a bit since then. He first posed with his own skateboard but then his friend suggested he would use his as it looked cooler!

Easy Rider

The Swedish version of Easy Rider.

Michelle

It was the warmest day of the year so far when I met Michelle in Handen on Friday. She had just been to the gym and seemed very upbeat (go endorphines!). She is studying to become a radiology nurse and is working as one this Summer. Come August she will take a week off and visit Barcelona.

Cool Kids of Different Ages

Cool kids of different ages. The last couple of days have been wonderful. Warm and sunny. Perfect Summer days. Took the photo of dad and son from the cafe chair yesterday afternoon. Second snap of the guy on the chopper shot one hour earlier from a spot that I use for panning photos.

People of Today

This is how modern people walk today. It is important to stay connected. At least through social media. Hey you, mind that car!

A stone memorial

Long story. Seven years ago at my barbers place I started to talk with another customer,Johan Henchen. He knew who I was and had something to tell me. While para motoring over a forest in Länna he had spotted a standing stone deep in the forest. He wanted me to check it out. I told a friend about it and he took his hiking boots and walked out into the forest. He found the stone and we learned the sad story. Now seven years later I finally saw the stone with my own eyes. And it really is a sad story. I hope you excuse my goofy photos. I took a few normal snaps of the stone but the camera wasn't working as it should. It was the Autumn of 1941. Lennart Wikholm was a young student. At seventeen years of age he was taking part in an orienteering event in the Länna forest when he had an accident. He fell badly and hurt himself. Sixty soldiers, twenty-five police officers with search dogs and a number of scouts were sent out to find him. He was found dead here two days later. It is a very tricky terrain and he must have fallen down somewhere and lost his compass and map. He then spent two cold nights in the forest (he wasn't dressed for that),before he was found dead. Injuries found on his body talks about a very tough struggle. It is possible that he had broken one of his legs. Again, sorry if my photos offend anyone. Written on the stone: ELEVEN VID BROMMA LÄROVERK LENNART WIKHOLM 17 ÅR GAMMAL SLÖT HÄR DEN 26 OKTOBER 1941 SIN IDROTTSBANA LÄR MIG DU SKOG ATT VISSNA GLAD EN GÅNG SOM HÖSTENS GULA BLAD EN BÄTTRE VÅR SNART BLOMMAR PS 572

Lines & Shadows

Always fun to try and find interesting photos at building sites.

Oh no, my phone is dead!

I took the bike down to the gallery in Österhaninge. Wanted to see if I could find something of interest at this years art promenade around the gallery garden. This was the piece that spoke to me. It is called Upplyst, made by Johanna Rosendahl. It's all about our relationship to the mobile phone/cell, whatever you call it. The smart-phones rule many peoples lives today. There's also a poem here but I didnt have the energy to translate that I have to check my emails!

This is how we do it in Sweden

If you want to get rid of your garbage just take the car and drive a few kilometers from home before dumping it anywhere you like. The good news here is that the idiots left their address on a few papers, so the police will have an easy job to clear this up. I have sent this photo and info to the municipality and to the police.

Candids from the cafe chair

Whenever I can I try to shoot a few candid photos of passersby when I enjoy coffee at my favorite cafe, Malmens konditori. Here are two such snaps.

30000 Facettes

I was sitting on the veranda enjoying a cup of coffee when this four-spotted chaser flew in and landed on my leg. It sat there for a while resting so I had time to grab the camera and go macro on it. Tricky to set the focus but somehow I managed to get this photo of it's impressive eyes. Bigger here.

Boys Are Rubbish

Boys are rubbish. Your children's future rests in our hands. That's what you can read on the side of this truck. Graduation time at the Fredrika Bremer secondary school. This looks like an all female school class. I'm guessing they have spent the last month partying and that their parents are more or less broke now. Good Times!

Eddie Lives!

Two photos of the same Volvo 745 from 1990. Now running as an EPA-tractor, which means that you can drive it when you are sixteen years old. I'm guessing that the kid that drives this epa-traktor is a big fan of the late Eddie Meduza, we don't have to go in to why I know that, but it has do to with what's written on the windshield.

Abandoned machinery

The third day of Summer. Decided to check out an abandoned (sort of), farm at Högsta in Österhaninge. I was here with a friend a few years ago. Back then the old barn was filled with old machinery and what have you, so we walked in and documented it. Then, after a snowy Winter the barn collapsed. Most of it is gone today but this has been left in the grass. Part of a machine made by a company called AB Westeråsmaskiner from Morgongåva. Boy was it a windy bike ride. The poor Steel Horse fell down a ditch and one mud guard broke. On my way to the farm I peaked at 40km/h. Heading home into the wind it was more like 10km/h!

Red and Yellow

I guess it could be hard to see what this is at a quick glance. Both pictures show macro photos of young pine cones. Found near the old tree.

The First Day of Summer

Summer is here. It arrived yesterday. At least if you count June, July and August as Summer. This is the tiny beach at Upper Lake Rudan in Handen. There's a bigger beach at the other end of the lake. The first day of Summer day started with hard rain for a few hours. That was followed by hard winds so it was no surprise to find the beach empty, but hey, it's a start!

The stylish Halina

Halina works at a company in Jordbro. Every day on her lunch hour she goes for a walk. Always dressed for success, Halina is very stylish and looking at her walking can be a bit hypnotizing, at least for me, (I have seen her many times). The first two times I stopped and asked her for a portrait she just laughed and said no thanks. This photo is from our third meeting. Theme Day, at CityDailyPhoto. Stylish.