Photos From Haninge

Frost Flowers

2012-02-03T00:01:00.000+01:00

It's been cold the last few days. As I'm typing this it is -14C. So you need to dress correctly while out shooting. It's not really my kind of weather, but if you can't beat them...

I was out looking for hoarfrost photos recently. It is always fascinating to zoom in on white ice crystals like the ones you see here.

The Ice Fisher

2012-02-02T11:25:00.002+01:00

This is Einar. I met him out on the ice at the frozen Lower Lake Rudan in Handen. He is often here ice fishing during the winter season. He told me that the lake has been frozen for about one month now. He figured that the ice was around 15 cm thick. No fish luck for Einar, but just like angling, ice fishing is also a social thing, so Einar and the two other guys probably had fun talking about the nosy photographer after I had left on my bicycle in the cold.

A dozen or so animals

2012-02-01T11:22:00.003+01:00

Theme day. Animals. These are some of the animals I have showed you over the years. A couple of different breed of cows, my favorite is the Scottish Highland. The snake is a common viper that is on the protected list, so it is illegal to kill it. The hedgehog, squirrel, and the woodpecker are all frequent guests to my veranda. The sheep used to live at the Nedersta farm and that is also where I met the lunching moose. The Canadian Goose usually visits Lake Rudan twice every year. The swans where visiting my favorite beach. The roe deer buck checked me out on a visit to the Nature Park in Handen. The sexy horse lives in Tungelsta.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

A little lunchbreak skiing

2012-01-31T11:37:00.004+01:00

On my way to the lakes yesterday I met Åsa. She works at Osram in Jordbro, and that companies office building is only a few minutes walk from the ski tracks at Rudan, which means that on a good winters day like the one we had yesterday, Åsa will go cross-country skiing on her lunchbreak. She has taken part in the annual Vasaloppet race a number of times. If you don't know it, it is a long distance (90 km) cross-country ski race that takes place in Dalarna on the first Sunday in March every year. Åsa has also tried her luck in the Engelbrektsloppet in Nora. That race is also part of the Swedish Classic Circuit. So I guess it is safe to say that she is a fit woman. And when there's no snow, chances are that you will find Åsa either at the gym or out jogging.

January VS. November

2012-01-30T11:39:00.002+01:00

Sometimes when I go for a photo promenade around Tungelsta I will take the first photo at the commuter station. One reason is just to get going. I will often photograph the same places and buildings over and over as you all know. This is the traffic mirror at the station. I shot the winter half yesterday and the autumn photo in November last year. I wear the same outfit on both photos but have added the beanie because of the recent cold spell.

The old school

2012-01-29T14:31:00.003+01:00

This can sometimes happen when you are speedwalking...

The building in the background is the old school in Tungelsta. I was a student there for one year as a first grader back in the early 1970s. My mother Lillemor Jansson was a student there for six years, between 1945 and 1951, as was my paternal grandfather Harald Fredrik Jansson, who started third grade here when the school was brand new back in 1913 and it is his class photo you can see here.

Miniature Trains

2012-01-28T00:46:00.005+01:00

The commuter train is always fun to photograph. This one is a bit different. Shot earlier this week from the newish bridge crossing the Tungelsta commuter station. To spice the photo up a bit I added a fake tiltshift effect.

Winter VS. Spring

2012-01-27T14:22:00.003+01:00

Two views of the Mulsta Länsmansboställe and the two magnificent trees that makes the entrance a bit special. Mulsta is an old village in Tungelsta. Länsmansboställe is a very old word that translated to English means something like the place where the Vassal lived. And for centuries this was where the local police lived. The old building was destroyed in a fire, and the one you see to the right here was built in 1893. I shot the winter photo two days ago and the spring view is from May of last year.

Skywatch Friday.

A Truck with a Difference

2012-01-26T11:36:00.004+01:00

Back in the 1940s it was obviously difficult to get parts to your farm vehicle and that's when the EPA-tractor was invented. Here is what Wikipedia has to say:

An EPA tractor was simply an automobile, truck or lorry, with the passenger space cut off behind the front seats, equipped with two gearboxes in a row. When done to an older car with a ladder frame, the result was not dissimilar to a tractor and could be used as one.

After the war many teenagers in Sweden used a loophole in the law which made it legal for a sixteen year old kid to drive an EPA-tractor on the roads without a license. Normally you would have to be eighteen to get a driver's license. Then in 1975 the A Tractor was introduced with a number of new rules regarding the engine. The most important one being the top speed of 30 km/h! The name EPA comes from a chain of stores that sold cheap products of poor quality. The name stuck, and even today the EPA-tractor is a popular vehicle among sixteen year olds. This red Volvo with a missing headlight lives at the Mulsta farm in Tungelsta. To see a few more EPA-tractors read this informative article in English.

Yin & Yang

2012-01-25T00:25:00.002+01:00

It took three weeks, but I finally shot my first street portrait of the year yesterday. This is Rontti. I spotted her in Handen. She had a bit of a yin &yang thing going I think. And clearly a unique style and that is often one of the things I am looking for in a portrait. Rontti is studying Aesthetics at the Fredrika Bremer secondary school, and enjoys painting. I figured her for someone that would listen to rock, but she said she was more in to techno music. It is always fun when you can connect people, and it turns out that one of her best friend is The Pink Pop Punk Girl that I met last summer.

Iron Age Gravefield

2012-01-24T00:52:00.002+01:00

Just north of the church in Tungelsta you will find a grave field from the Late Iron Age. It consists of 25 stone graves. The people living in the village, close to the burial site, were farmers and hunters. The dead were cremated on funeral pyres. In one grave here archeologist have found remains from a bear. The conclusion is that the person who was cremated here was resting on a bearskin. After the cremation, the bones were put in a a clay urn and a tomb were built over the cremation layer. The modern brick church was built in 1974.

Taphophile Tragics.

Ramshackle of the Day

2012-01-23T14:46:00.004+01:00

A soon to collapse old wooden building at Fornminnesvägen in Tungelsta. When I was a kid there was also an old farm house on this property. It was a fun place to break into. I remember how we threw out broken windows from a room on the second floor. One of my friends took a hit and that's when we ended that game. Today most of this property has been fixed up, and it has a new owner. There are also a few horses in the pasture.

Winter has arrived

2012-01-22T17:34:00.002+01:00

It snowed off and on all day today. So I guess it is official now, winter is here! I took a walk around Tungelsta,just like yesterday. For most of the walk everything was white. This is "färglådorna" where there was a terrible fire a little over a year.

Nothing much happened

2012-01-21T16:18:00.004+01:00

Facts from a promenade. It was -5C and very ice. The garage door at the abandoned gas station had been repaired, good to know that my email to the municipality worked. Met a young mother out walking with a stroller. She had the biggest smile I have seen for a long time. Four horses were standing next to the fence at their pasture along Vädersjövägen. Near the brick church on Kvarnvägen three people were reading the sign that informed about the historical remains that can be found in the forest there. The most surprising thing I saw (but didn't photograph), was a bearded man with wild hair wearing only shoes, a t-shirt and sports shorts. He was heading for the grocery store, possibly in search of warmer clothes. Over at the kindergarten where I previously have shown you the winter hammock, I found these left behind gloves on a table next to the playground. Other than that nothing much happened.

Parked For the Season

2012-01-20T13:28:00.007+01:00

I have met surprisingly few cyclists on the roads this winter, at least when you consider the lack of snow that we are having. But for the moment my bike is parked in the cellar. Not because of the snow, but because of the ice. It is a few degrees below zero and the little snow we did get earlier in the week have now frozen. And as I don't have any winter tires on the bike, I will wait for the staddies (thanks Peter), to fix that. This unusually parked bike can be seen at the Tungelsta commuter station.

No Snow Plowing This Season

2012-01-19T12:18:00.003+01:00

If and when it snows the snow plowing will be handled by the Stadsbyggnadsförvaltningens teknikavdelning. It would be fun to hear the non-Swedish readers of this blog pronouncing that! The snow plowers need between three and five centimeters of the white stuff before they can go to work. The de-icing of the roads will also involve salting and sanding, something I both like and dislike, as I usually will get a few flat tires on my bike every winter from the sand, which in reality is crushed stone. This winter the snow plowers haven't been very busy, although they have done some sanding. I shot this photo earlier in the week when it actually snowed for a few minutes.

That Old Tree

2012-01-18T14:29:00.003+01:00

I heard on the news last night that we can expect some snow in the next 24 hours or so. This was the scene over at the old tree earlier today. Someone from the Mulsta horse farm have been here with a saw. But they have only cut off a part of the broken tree branch. I tried lifting it myself, but it is stuck and also very heavy.

Murder by Mistake

2012-01-17T11:27:00.003+01:00

This is one of many graves belonging to the Upmark family, that you will find at the cemetery in Västerhaninge. There used to be a hedge surrounding this part of the cemetery, but for some reson it has been cut down. I was looking for the headstone of Herman Upmark, but couldn't find it. He was murdered by mistake. Back in 1871 two men, Konrad Petterson Lundqvist Tector and Gustav Adolf Eriksson Hjert murdered Herman Upmark and his chauffeur, Johan August Larsson near Malmköping. They had planned to rob a horse-drawn, two-wheeled mail wagon, but it was dark and they made a mistakee and Upmark, who was a rail road engineer, and on his way home, was shot to death together with his chauffeur. The two murderers were executed on May 18 in 1876. They were the last persons to be executed in Sweden. This grave belongs to Elisabeth Björkman from the same family, she lived between 1790 and 1851. The Upmark family comes from Tungelsta, and I have shown you many photos from their estate Hammar on this blog over the years.

Taphophile Tragics.

Did you know...

2012-01-16T15:21:00.003+01:00

Two buildings in Tungelsta with some interesting facts. To the right the old Tungelsta Station House. It's been there since 1901 when the railroad to Stockholm opened for traffic. The architect was possibly the famous Ferdinand Boberg, but no one knows for sure. What we do know is that the retired station master still lives in an apartment on the second floor. To the left a building that might have been moved to it's current position back in 1901. Before the move it is said that the house was located in a rural village known as Fors, a few kilometers from here, where it served as a convenience store. No one knows for sure how it really was. But it was a convenience store on it's current location for many years. And there's more. There's a locked room on the top floor according to Birdman who lived in the building as a child. And it is also said that the King of Sweden spent the night in a room on the second floor when the railway opened for traffic. Since then that room has been called the Royal room, but there are no evidence that the King really stayed there. It snowed a bit today so I took my old Canon 300D with me and took these photos with that camera.

Window Of Opportunity?

2012-01-15T13:00:00.004+01:00

One week ago I showed you some photos from a newly trashed gas station in Tungelsta. I emailed a few links about the incident to the municipality. I wanted to know if there was a responsible owner somewhere, and if the municipality could to something about the current situation with the abandoned building. I have received four answers containing absolutely no information at all. Last night the thrashers were back. They smashed a few windows. They managed to drive into the garage doors. After that they walked in and continued what they started last weekend. I guess I will have to send another link to the municipality as I walked over to the gas station this morning for a few more photos of the vandalized building. To see all the photos follow the link.

A Frosty Face

2012-01-14T16:52:00.004+01:00

A few years ago I noticed an over-snowed chair in a private garden in Tungelsta. During that long and cold winter, I went back four or five times to document the changes of the season, using that chair. I'm thinking about using this sculpture of the author Ivar-Lo Johansson as a marker this winter. The last time you saw Ivar, who spends his time near the Tungelsta commuter station, a caring person had given him some winter clothing. He looked very chic, and rather pleased with that. Now, someone has stolen his colorful scarf, and I sensed that he was a little upset about that on this frosty day.

It snowed yesterday...

2012-01-13T11:10:00.001+01:00

...for several minutes.

Skywatch Friday.

The Tin Man

2012-01-12T00:10:00.004+01:00

A few years ago a street art phenomenon knows as The Roundabout Dogs appeared all over Sweden. I have showed you quite a few cool dogs. One of them was at this roundabout in Västerhaninge. Last year I photographed a Jack O'Lantern in this roundabout, but that was just a Halloween thing. Since then all have been quiet, but earlier this week The Tin Man appeared from nowhere. I wonder if this is the start of a new street art movement...

That Old Tree

2012-01-11T11:51:00.002+01:00

This winter has been a weird one. After a long time with mild temperatures we suddenly got a couple of days with colder weather. Biking in -8 C isn't all that fun, but someone has to do it. This was the scene at the old tree the other day. No one around, and it did look a bit like winter. As I'm typing this, it probably looks a little different, as the warm weather has returned again and it is now +4 C.

Headstone Relief

2012-01-10T00:28:00.003+01:00

On a recent walk around the cemetery at the Medieval church in Västerhaninge I noticed this relief on a head stone. The faces looked so young, so I first thought that the couple might have died young in some accident. But that wasn't the case. John who was borne in 1887 died in 1968. His wife Ida lived between 1896 and 1980. All I know about them is that they came from Nedersta, a rural area between Västerhaninge and Tungelsta.

Taphophile Tragics.

The Guard Dog

2012-01-09T12:55:00.002+01:00

Out on a winter promenade around Skogs Ekeby in Tungelsta yesterday, I came upon this badass guard dog in front of Rolf Andersson's place. Luckily I made it home unharmed.

Table Tennis Anyone?

2012-01-08T15:35:00.003+01:00

This ping-pong table can be found at the Tungelsta school which opens again tomorrow after the Christmas holiday. I shot this photo one hour ago. Not much snow as you can see. Quite a difference from how the same table looked back in December of 2009 which was when I shot the second photo.

The Abandoned Gas Station

2012-01-07T00:21:00.005+01:00

It opened as a Koppartrans filling station in the early 1960s. Shell took over in the 1970s. Per Erik Mickos and his wife ran the business for a couple of decades until they retired. For a while it became a DIN-X station. Next up was a soccer coach from Södertälje, but he went into personal bankruptcy soon after taking over the station. And that's when the gas station, which also served as a garage, kiosk and grocery store was abandoned. On Thursday night someone drove a car through the garage doors for no apparent reason. This afternoon I walked over do document the abandoned station in Tungelsta. The oldest photos in the slideshow dates back to when the station was still in operation.

A Swedish Sky

2012-01-06T11:50:00.003+01:00

Skywatch Friday.

Heading home one afternoon a while back I stopped at a roundabout because of the traffic, (I was on my bike), so while I was waiting I decided to aim my camera towards the sky.

The Youth Centre

2012-01-05T00:15:00.001+01:00

The last time I showed you a photo of the former fire station in Tungelsta it was because I saw a Winter Halo in the sky. My dad was a volunteer fire fighter here for a quarter of a century. Today the building is used as a youth centre and the nearest fire station is in Handen ten kilometres away. These two photos shows the miniature golf course that I never saw anyone use, and I think it is gone now. The winter half of the diptych is from two winters ago, when we actually had snow. The summer version dates back to May of 2008.

The Philosopher

2012-01-04T00:13:00.004+01:00

This bronze sculpture is called The Philosopher. He sits in the middle of a lawn near a few benches, at the bus stop at the mall in Handen, so he is often surrounded by a lot of people. Whenever I see him I think of Gollum, from The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien. The artist is a sculptor called Sture Collin, who has done quite a few works of art in this style. I posted another photo of this artwork on another blog a few years ago, and the artists son, Max found it and left a comment.

Black and White weekend.

Two Little Angels

2012-01-03T00:00:00.001+01:00

I don't visit cemeteries all that often. But as Julie has a weekly theme called Taphophile Tragics I might have to change that. These two angels on a headstone can be found at the cemetery next to the Medieval Church (it dates back to 1320), in Österhaninge. I have shown you photos of the church before. Here is a link to one post about the church with the leaning tower. Both photos are from my flickr archives. The pig in the background on the second photo was part of a art promenade and should be long gone now.

Explosions in the sky

2012-01-02T00:00:00.001+01:00

Vendors around Sweden sold fireworks worth something like 250 million SEK this last week. And the fireworks were all used during the New Years Eve celebrations. That's around 26 SEK per person in the country (there's 9 600 000 of us, give or take). The population in Tungelsta is around 5000, which means that I watched 130 000 SEK exploding in the night sky during the ten minutes that I stood on the stairs at home taking photos of the spectacle. It looked like much more. Happy New Year everyone!

A year of Portraits

2012-01-01T01:02:00.004+01:00

The photo of the year is the portrait. And not just one, but 110. That's how many street portraits I shot for this blog last year. I met many interesting people. Among them Haninge's new Mayor. Two African nuns. A former Prime Minister. A clown. A World Champion Wrestler. A couple of musicians. Quite a few students. A dare devil. Two cute teenage girls. And many many more. You can see a few of them in the collage, and if you have a couple of minutes be sure to check out the slideshow with all 110.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Time to say goodbye to 2011

2011-12-31T14:38:00.003+01:00

The mother wanted a photo calendar for 2012, so I created a collage where she can choose one photo per month. And here they are. She likes animals, winter snaps and some colorful scenes, so I hope she will be able to pic 12 photos from this collage. You have probably seen all these photo on this blog in the last year.

Firework Rocket

2011-12-30T16:21:00.001+01:00

A new law will go into effect in Haninge tomorrow. If you want to have a firework display, you must now have a permission from the police. There are two exceptions. On New Years Eve, and on Walpurgis Night you don't need the permit. If you break the law you could be fined.

Better safe than sorry

2011-12-29T16:52:00.000+01:00

Earlier this year a little girl was killed when she was climbing on a grave stone at a cemetery in Sweden. So now all grave stones that look like they possibly could fall over have been secured. This is my grandfather, Oskar Andersson's headstone, at the cemetery at the Medieval church in Västerhaninge. I think they have over done it a bit here. If this headstone fell over somehow I doubt it would kill even a squirrel.

All that's left...

2011-12-28T16:19:00.002+01:00

...is the birdhouse.

For many years I would see the old woman walking home with her groceries. She lived in a little red cottage along Björklundsvägen in Västerhaninge. Yesterday the cottage was gone. All that was left was now packed into four yellow containers. Today the containers were gone. The cottage was owned by the municipality. There was some problem with the sewer system, so when the old woman moved, they decided to tear the building down. A neighbour told me a sad story today. The old woman, who is suffering from dementia, had been back a few times. On her last visit, just a couple of days ago, she had turned around when she realised that her house was gone and told the neighbour that she had forgotten her keys.

Surveying the Aftermath

2011-12-27T12:06:00.004+01:00

I obviously had to visit the old tree at Välsta yesterday when I was out surveying the aftermath of Dagmar the Killer Storm (how does that sound Julie?). Sadly the tree looks to have been hit rather badly. At least one big branch have been broken off. After more that 260 visits to the Swedish Whitebeam, I have gotten used to it's shape and now it has changed a bit. If you have a few hours sit back and enjoy the slideshow below.

Aftermath of the Storm

2011-12-26T16:19:00.003+01:00

A big storm hit Sweden yesterday. Thousands of people got stuck on trains. Many households are still without power. It stormed all night, and what a weird night it was. We had 10 C at one o'clock in the morning. After it was all over I jumped on the bike and went for a ride around Haninge. Everywhere I went I could see the aftermath of the storm, that was named Dagmar. On the top photo is the old church school in Västerhaninge. My friend Birdman lives on the second floor with his daughters. I noticed him out in the garden with one daughter. They were looking at the big fur that fell during the storm. Had the tree fallen in the opposite direction, the car to the right would have been history. The second photo shows the Mormon temple in Västerhaninge. The tree just missed the nativity scene with about a meter and I'm sure the religious people will have something to say about that. The third photo is from Handen and shows a Volkswagen that has been hit by a birch tree. There was much more damage but this will do for now.

Tomtenisse

2011-12-25T16:51:00.003+01:00

The Swedish folklore Santa was known as a Tomtenisse. He was usually dressed in a grey suit and more importantly, he was dead! You would see him around farms, normally the farm where he lived when he was alive. Now after death he would come back to see if everything was all right with the animals at his old place. The Tomtenisse was a very tiny man. People would feed him by putting out a plate of rice pudding at the vestibule. It is said he was related to the wights. I don't know if that is true but I remember my grandmother telling us the story when she met a wight. God Jul everyone.

Christmas Lunch

2011-12-24T13:09:00.000+01:00

I just enjoyed a very modest Christmas lunch. Home made rice pudding with cinnamon. And crisp bread with Yule-ham and apple-sauce. Everything was perfect. Now where did i put the glögg bottle?

A Christmas Tradition

2011-12-23T16:55:00.003+01:00

There's no Christmas tree in the house where I live, and no exchange of Christmas gifts. Which means that our Christmas is totally stress free. But there's always Glögg. And plenty of it. You can get some facts about Glögg here. The tiny cup is made of tin, and on it you can see the Neck, an old mythological figure from Swedish folklore. Skål!

Winter Vs. Autumn

2011-12-22T12:39:00.003+01:00

I took the autumn half of this diptych in early October. The only reason for taking the photo of the tree in Handen was to make a diptych when the first snow came, so here it is. We haven't had any more snow, and from this afternoon it is said to be warmer. The forecast for Monday is a weird one. We can expect something like 10C, that sounds more like spring than mid winter.

The Joy of Winter

2011-12-21T11:19:00.002+01:00

If you don't have a garage, or a block heater, this is what you will have to do on a cold winter morning before driving to the mall/work place/anywhere really. It's the joy of winter!

Stylish and Dirty

2011-12-20T16:39:00.003+01:00

Spotted this stylish snowwoman standing outside an apartment building in Handen today. I asked her for a portrait and complimented her on her scarf, but she just gave me a cold look.

A Sudden Change in the Weather

2011-12-19T12:59:00.002+01:00

It has snowed a few times in the last couple of days. At the moment a very thin layer of the white stuff is covering the ground. This is a cottage at the Hammar Estate.

Adventsljusstake

2011-12-18T12:20:00.000+01:00

Swedish word of the day:Adventsljusstake.

Puzzled

2011-12-17T14:22:00.003+01:00

I haven't been out much with the camera lately. It is winter, but the lack of snow makes it very dark. The sun is only up for a few hours per day and most of the time it is hidden behind grey skies. So instead of walking around in the dark I tend to spend some time in front of the computer, taking the odd self-portrait and trying to solve a puzzle or two.

What a Difference a Year Makes

2011-12-16T11:44:00.003+01:00

This is how the old tree at Välsta looks today, (or yesterday on the 15th of December to be more precise). No sign of winter at all. I shot the second photo precisely one year earlier. By this time last winter I had already shot four snowy photos of the old tree. I think it's safe to say that we will have a green Christmas this year.

December vs. October

2011-12-15T16:04:00.004+01:00

Normally I am pretty good at re-shooting any scene. But this time around I missed a bit. This is a newly pawed walkway/bike path at Håga in Västerhaninge. I was going to make a Different seasons diptych, but I shot the December photo from a slightly different angle so that didn't work. If and when it snows I will go back for another try.

Santa's Sleigh

2011-12-14T17:12:00.005+01:00

I spotted Santa's sleigh today. It was parked in front of the greenhouses at Tungelstavägen in Tungelsta, which probably means that Santa was there buying some Christmas flowers for Mrs. Claus.

Half Elf, Half Orc?

2011-12-13T17:17:00.001+01:00

How does a grotesque warrior like this half orc celebrate Christmas? I'm guessing it will be a violent Christmas.

Coffee & Stories

2011-12-12T13:47:00.002+01:00

Jujja was part of the legendary music scene in Handen, The Ultrahuset. And he could tell you a few stories. We usually meet a few times every week at the cafe. During one one of those meetings Jujja and Tompa Eken told me a few good stories. One was about The Stone Roses. It dates back to before the band became world famous. They had played a gig in the Stockholm area the previous evening, and when they arrived to Ultrahuset, they didn't feel like playing. So they said that the place wasn't big enough for them, and they told everyone that they were going to party with a few of the babes that they had with them. Then it was the story about when Henry Rollins played. And that night when Dave Grohl was there...

Pimped Author

2011-12-11T11:56:00.001+01:00

Famous author Ivar Lo-Johansson is dressing up for the winter. Here he is posing near the commuter station in Tungelsta. I don't know who pimped him but it might have been The Knitter for all I know.

Tungelsta Christmas Market

2011-12-10T15:01:00.004+01:00

I visited the annual Christmas market in the park in Tungelsta today. The greenhouse was filled with people. A few members of the local historical association, Folk och Trädgård were selling their homemade handicraft, and you can see two of them here. Liza Sergler on the top photo was selling socks and mittens. Marita Jacobsson specialises in kurbits painting. The felted wool figures are also locally made by Kirsten Rasmussen. If you have a very good memory you might remember a photo I took of the posing Mr. Rasmussen earlier this year.

Sixties Santa

2011-12-09T11:46:00.002+01:00

Vintage Santa in the display window at my barber's place at Åby in Västerhaninge.

The promised snow storm missed by many kilometres, and turned into windy weather with a lot of rain.

Winter Rose

2011-12-08T15:23:00.002+01:00

The red rose across the road from my favorite cafe in Handen is still there, despite the recent cold weather. But there's a snow storm coming this evening. The forecast said something like 20 cm of snow and very hard winds. I think it is time to order winter tyres to the bike now.

The Laundry Worker

2011-12-07T13:35:00.003+01:00

Every now and then I stumble upon a sculpture made by the late chainsaw artist Lennart Jansson. This figure depicts a laundry worker. When I met Lennart a few years ago he told me that this sculpture was part of a group that he had hoped that the municipality would buy, as they were interested in art that showed local history. A century ago Haninge had a big laundry industry, with many family owned businesses. Today all that is left from that period are two or three barns. Sadly the municipality decided to buy another artwork, and after his death some of Lennart's sculptures have been more or less abandoned.

The old Dodge

2011-12-06T15:13:00.002+01:00

Spotted this 1966 Dodge Polara parked at the grill in Tungelsta. Seems to be in very good condition. The owner, (a young guy with some serious tattoos), was enjoying lunch and I asked him if I could take some snaps of his "raggarbil", and he was obviously fine with that. There's another photo of the Polara in black and white at flickr.

Winter Vs. Autumn

2011-12-05T11:46:00.002+01:00

To the left is how the tree lined avenue at the 200-year old Hammar estate looks like today. The unused driveway is being fixed. It is supposed to be winter now, but it sure doesn't look like it. To the right how it looked on a misty November day back in 2009. I shot the 2009 photo with the Canon 300d, and the winter photo with the Canon 550d.

Reamde

2011-12-04T15:16:00.001+01:00

I haven't used the camera at all this weekend. Instead I have spent a few hours reading this novel. It weighs 1.2 kilo. Number of pages is 1042. And as you can see it completely hides my face in this self-portrait. Reamde by Neal Stephenson. What are you reading?

Symmetry

2011-12-03T16:34:00.002+01:00

Back in March I shoved you a photo of the old Stationhouse at the Tungelsta commuter station. Here is a more recent snap, closing in on a window on the second floor. The former station master still lives in apartment there. Funny story here. My brother, who lives in Cyprus was standing on the platform one morning not too long ago when the station master walked up to him and said, well Tomas, if you are waiting for the train, I'm afraid it will be a long wait as the trains will not start running here for a few weeks yet. So he had to take the bus.

Runestone Update

2011-12-02T16:31:00.004+01:00

As you might remember I visited Småhamra a few months ago. That's where a previously unknown rune-stone from the Viking Era was discovered by the farmer Rolf Norlin. The plan was to have a ceremonial raising of the stone on the spot where it was found. The archaeologist Roger Wikell who translated the runic inscription was planning to invite a few people, including the farmer, the local historical association and one or two journalists. Sadly it didn't happen that way as someone from the Swedish National Heritage Board decided to do it on her own more or less. Roger was very upset about this. He also said that the stone had been poorly positioned and that it might fall over any day. I had a look for myself a while back. It looked OK to me, but then again, I'm no expert, and the last I heard about it from Roger was that he is hoping to move the stone come the spring. Anyway, this is how it looks now.

Ambulance Helicopter

2011-12-01T12:09:00.003+01:00

Theme Day. Action. This is an ambulance helicopter circling over central Handen earlier this year. I was talking to a few people when we suddenly heard the helicopter. I grabbed my camera and took a few quick photos before it disappeared over the roof tops. They were trying to find a place to land, and a minute later they touched down on a grassy area in a nearby park. The reason for all this was that a man was running after a bus, he slipped and was run over by the bus, his life could not be saved.
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

A visit to the cafe

2011-11-30T11:30:00.002+01:00

I visited my favorite cafe yesterday. There's always something interesting going on there. On this visit I chatted with Tompa "Eken" whom you have met here before a few times. He told me about the little acting job he did last Friday, for a kids show on SVT. He got the gig as the director Erik Haag spotted him at the cafe earlier in the year. The tasty looking gingerbread cookies in today's post were baked and designed by the award winning pastry chef Diana.

Jazz Legend

2011-11-29T11:03:00.002+01:00

I met a jazz legend yesterday. Ronnie Gardiner. He is an American musician who has lived in Sweden for nearly 50 years. He is a drummer, and has played with some of the most famous jazz musicians, like Dizzy Gillespie and Gerry Mulligan. He told me that he recently moved to Vendelsö in Haninge and that's where we met. When Ronnie isn't touring the world playing music he works a lot with something called the RGRM Method, and if you would like to find out more about that have a look at his web site. I also believe that Ronnie is the only American that has received the St Erik Medal from the city of Stockholm.

Pinktastic

2011-11-28T10:59:00.003+01:00

If you mix red and white the result is called pink. I can't say that it is one of my favorite colors, but once in a while I will see something pink that stands out a bit, and when that happens I usually stop for a photo and you can see the result in the slideshow.

Brown Rat

2011-11-27T13:46:00.001+01:00

Spotted a brown rat yesterday.

Twas just another November Day

2011-11-26T17:05:00.000+01:00

This might be Blitzen. No sign of Santa.

Cutting & Splitting

2011-11-25T11:29:00.002+01:00

All done by the guy in the background, who works for the municipality. The firewood will now be stacked in a building here at Lake Rudan in Handen. Today this is a recreational area, but a century ago there was a farm and laundry business here, and some of the old buildings are still standing, like the red cottage in the background. Shot with the nifty fifty at f 1.8.

Through the Mist

2011-11-24T00:15:00.003+01:00

This autumn has been very warm, and misty. This was the scene at Nedersta a few days ago. Through the mist you could just see the collapsed barn at the 700 year old Nödesta farm. The tree to the left is not the old tree that I show you every now and then, but the magnificent tree, where up until a couple of years ago you would often see Karin's sheep rest in the shade.

Color Vs. Black and White

2011-11-23T00:55:00.003+01:00

Time for another different seasons post, but with a difference. No diptych this time. But Color Vs. Black and White, and Autumn Vs. Summer. The color photo is from June. The Autumn shot from a few days ago. This is the very narrow birch allée near the old Söderby estate in Vega in Handen. Still no facts about who planted the trees like this and why. If this looks familiar to you it is because I showed you two photos from here on the theme day in September.

The WoW Girl

2011-11-22T00:22:00.001+01:00

I don't shoot that many street portraits this time of the year, but here is one from yesterday. I noticed the well-dressed Ellinor in Västerhaninge when she was crossing the street. She was listening to music, but I did get her attention after a while. Ellinor comes from Skogås, (which is only a few stops away on the commuter that I showed you yesterday). She was on her way to the Berga Agricultural College, where she is a third-year student. I usually visit Berga on their open-house weekend in the summer, so if you want see photos from there press here. After she graduates next summer Ellinor will start all over again as she has changed her mind about the future. Three years ago she figured that she wanted to work with something horse related, but now she has her eyes set on a future as a journalist. One of her hobbies include online role-playing, and then especially World of Warcraft, hence the title that one of my flickr contacts gave me the idea to.

Krigslida Commuter Station

2011-11-21T16:11:00.006+01:00

Here is the answer to yesterdays question. This is the Krigslida Commuter Station along the Nynäsbanan railway line. Traffic got under way this morning. Seven weeks ago this was just a messy construction site. The old platform had been removed as had all the rail. The new platform has been moved a little to the south. The reason for all this is that a second rail-track is planned between Västerhaninge and Tungelsta. Work on that has been going on for a few years now mostly during the summer when traffic has been stopped. I have previously showed you a few new bridges and roads in the area. At the moment there's only one rail-track here, but all the preparations for the second track are done and it will be built come the spring, some time in April.

What's this then?

2011-11-20T00:18:00.005+01:00

This is a busy construction site. Not that hard to figure out that perhaps although no one was around working when I shot this. I took the photo nearly two months ago, so it looks a bit different today. Any idea what it is? If you come up with a few good guesses I promise to go back here on Monday and take another photo with the answer.

The Rose

2011-11-19T00:03:00.001+01:00

Leaving Malmen's cafe the other day I stopped for a chat with my friend Jim who was on his way to the cafe. We spotted the red rose and talked a bit about how to best shoot it. It was getting dark so I decided to give The Nifty Fifty a go and this was the result.

The Secret Society

2011-11-18T00:01:00.000+01:00

Surely this is a sign that discretely says that a secret society houses in the building behind the fence. Must be some organisation like the Illuminati. I am yet to figure out the meaning behind the idea of leaving that last barrel standing next to the unfinished pyramid.

Silver Birch Forest

2011-11-17T00:00:00.000+01:00

There is something special with a misty forest. I pass by this silver birch forest almost every day, and will often stop for a few photos. It is located at Håga in Västerhaninge. It is used as a pet cemetery. Sadly earlier this year a pedestrian bridge were constructed here, so the area has changed a bit, but most of the trees are still here. The clever people that run the UTATA front page liked this photo so you can also see it there and read a few words written by Debra.

That Old Tree

2011-11-16T11:12:00.002+01:00

The red berries are long gone on the old tree. On this visit everything was gray and misty.

Misty Road

2011-11-15T10:55:00.003+01:00

Remember that Autumn Avenue I showed you back in September? Here it is once again, and it sure looks a bit different this time around. To see all photos from the Nödesta Farm press here.

An apple a day...

2011-11-14T11:36:00.002+01:00

I need to buy a larger camera bag so that I can bring the old canon with the zoom lens with me. This moose was thinking about eating a few apples at Fridhem when I spotted it yesterday.

it's not winter just yet

2011-11-13T11:24:00.003+01:00

Reports are coming in from all over Sweden regarding the mild autumn. Just a day ago I read about a woman who had a lawn full of wild strawberries. No such luck at my place, but I did shoot these two photos in Västerhaninge yesterday, just after my visit to the cemetery.

Ghost Watching at the Cemetery

2011-11-12T14:19:00.002+01:00

Today should have been a good day for ghost watching. Very dark and foggy. I took a walk at the Medieval church and cemetery in Västerhaninge. I'm sad to report that no ghosts were up and running during my visit.

Blood Red Sky

2011-11-11T00:10:00.000+01:00

The days are very short now. And the sky has been grey for a few weeks. But we did actually have a few hours of a blueish sky yesterday, so hurrah for that. I took this photo at four in the afternoon a couple of day ago. This really isn't my favorite time of the year.

Skywatch Friday.

There is such a thing as...

2011-11-10T11:24:00.000+01:00

...a free lunch.

Autumn Me

2011-11-09T11:39:00.003+01:00

No blue sky for a while now. I tend to prefer a blue sky over a grey one. Which is to say that I haven't been out shooting very much lately. But one good thing is that it has been very warm the last few weeks. At least compared to the last few years. I shot this self portrait at home a few days ago. These leaves will not be removed from the lawn. And I promise to shoot another self-portrait here when the snow arrives...

1956 Citroën

2011-11-08T14:28:00.001+01:00

I stopped at Solakullen in Tungelsta, for a chat with the owner, Gunnar, and decided to take a few photos of one of his cars. He has a garage where he repair French cars. This is one on Gunnar's cars. A 1956 Citroën Berline 11 Sport.

Don't Rake Those Leaves

2011-11-07T11:16:00.003+01:00

On my way to the grocery store I walked into the park here in Tungelsta to grab a few autumn photos. This green lawn was completely covered in autumn leaves, which gave me an opportunity to play a bit with The Nifty Fifty.

Moa

2011-11-06T00:37:00.001+01:00

What are the odds that I should find another girl named Moa to photograph? Or another redhead? I don't know, but maybe Moa can formulate a probability equation about that, because she works with statistics. She is employed by the Haninge municipality and works from City Hall in Handen. I spotted Moa in the big park in Handen today. She was busy photographing the yellow trees that you can see behind her, and I knew as soon as I saw her that I had to take her portrait. I took a couple of decent photos in the park myself earlier in the week, and we talked a bit about photography. When Moa isn't working with statistics, chances are pretty good that you will find her at the gym.

Bittersweet & Melancholic

2011-11-05T00:00:00.000+01:00

There was a lunchtime concert at the Cultural Centre in Handen on Friday. It became more melancholic than originally planned, as one of the musicians that was going to play here died in his sleep earlier this week. Seven musicians took to the stage and dedicated their performance to Yngve Hammervald. He was a very good guitarist, and played with ABBA many years ago. Someone told me that Yngve was invited to a world tour with ABBA ,but as he had just started a family he turned that invitation down. The people on stage here are Ove Blomqvist. Linus Söderlund. Mikael Pettersson. Emilia Ekeblad. Inga-lill "Plingis" Högman. Rasmus Söderlund and Mikael Vinsa.

A bit of a blue sky

2011-11-04T10:44:00.004+01:00

November is here and with it came the grey skies. Most of this week has been very dark and moody, but there was at least one day when we did see a blue sky, and here is the proof. This was the scene at Eskilsparken in Handen on that day.

Skywatch Friday.

Aiming For The Military

2011-11-03T00:00:00.002+01:00

Haven't shot a street portrait for a while. This is Albin. I noticed his read headphones, it was a very grey day yesterday, so they stood out a bit. He was listening to music when I approached him so I had to wave my hands for him to see me. Albin is a future soldier. In a weeks time he will do the tests for his GMU. He is hoping to do his military training at the Haninge Garrison preferably at the Amphibian regiment where he might meet Fredrik.

Jack O'Lantern

2011-11-02T00:02:00.002+01:00

We don't really celebrate Halloween over here. But there are of course exceptions. And after a quick walk around a cemetery yesterday, I found this seriously evil looking Jack O'Lantern in roundabout in Västerhaninge. Shot with The Nifty Fifty.

Fenced In

2011-11-01T00:01:00.002+01:00

I don't like fences. But they make for interesting photo opportunities sometimes. For the November Theme Day I decided to make a collage showing fence related photos that I have shot this year. If you follow this blog on a daily basis, and who doesn't, you might remember The Power Tool Operator. He works at a construction site in Handen. You haven't seen the Camel photo before, but I did show you a few other Camel photos on that day when the circus was in town back in July. I found the fenced in plastic cow at Håga in Västerhaninge where it was later joined by a Crocodile. If I knew who he was, I guess I should thank the helicopter pilot. I took that photo during a car show at Torvalla, and it was thanks to him that I got that great snap of the singer Tess Mercedes at that same event.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Autumn in the Park

2011-10-31T15:59:00.003+01:00

I stopped at the big park in Handen today. The sun was shining from a clear blue sky. Very warm for this time of the year, around 11C is my guess. As I took some photos of the leaves that completely covered the green lawn, two people walked up to me and started talking. The first one, a middle aged woman wanted to know a good place online for a shy photographer, I suggested flickr where you can be anonymous if you so wish. A minute later another woman approached me. She told me about a strange behaviour she had just witnessed. Ten birds where lying on the lawn pretending to be dead as a large falcon flew overhead. That would have been a photo with a difference.

The Execution Rock

2011-10-30T10:45:00.003+01:00

Before Sweden became a democracy we actually killed our citizens. Today's photo relates to a post I wrote just before Midsummer two years ago, about such an event. This glacial erratic in Jordbro has a gruesome history. Because for centuries it was used as a place of execution. It has seen many decapitations and hangings. The last person to die here was Anders Gustav Pettersson, who murdered his boss, Fredrik Jaedren, the brutal owner of the old estate Näringsberg. Many years ago before the railway, there was an old Inn near the rock, where visitors to and from Stockholm used to stay for the night. Obviously it was said that this place was haunted...

Blue Amazon

2011-10-29T11:37:00.001+02:00

I tried my luck at the O Caritas Car/Moped/Scooter Shooting Technique the other day. Using the nifty fifty I took eight auto focus photos at f1.8 of this blue Amazon, which I then rather unsuccessfully tried to stitch together. Restitched with only four shots, and that turned out OK, although I had to fix the licence plate. Patrick had a look at the photo and told me a bit more of his technique.

Armed Robbery

2011-10-28T00:32:00.000+02:00

I heard the police car sirens yesterday afternoon. It was an armed robbery. A gold and watch store near the mall in Handen had just been robbed. I arrived as the police started questioning witnesses. I talked to the guy on the bench. He told me that he saw two robbers running out from the store, and driving off in a car. The window in the door to the store was smashed. He then said the same thing to the police officer, that also asked me if I had seen anything. The eyewitness eye-sight wasn't up to par, so he didn't know the make or model of the getaweay car. Half an hour later as I was on my way home the police had called off a large area around the store and a few photographers had arrived. The guy with the Sony camera works for TV4.

Menhir Stones

2011-10-27T12:00:00.005+02:00

Back at the Bronze Age burial ground in Jordbro. This is a formation of grave stones called Menhir. Also known as a Bautasten in Swedish. These stones are on the small side, they are roughly one meter high. There are many information boards like this one on the big grave field. Shot with the Nifty Fifty.