Crescent moon

Cycling home on Thursday afternoon in the pitch dark, I stopped on the bike path at the 700-year-old Nedersta farm for a photo of the moon over the trees. And then a couple of minutes later I stopped on another bike path close to the preschool Lilla Lillgården at Stav in Tunelsta for a another moon photo.

One hundred days of darkness

A few years ago, I did a project called one hundred days of darkness. That was after reading about a photo project by Nils Öhman, a Swedish journalist from Stockholm. After he finished his project, he made a book about it. So I decided to give it a go this year as well. Funny story. After eating an early dinner today because of the storm, Jacob, I jumped on the bike and headed for the station here in Tungelsta, where I took this photo for my new project. Thirty seconds later, the power went out, and it became so dark that it was tricky to ride home, even with the bike light on.

Vintermorgon

Vintermorgon. Winter morning. This was the first thing I saw this morning when I stumbled out of bed and looked out the window, before walking down to the kitchen to prepare my breakfast. Looks like we will have a white Christmas after all.

1700 Hours

After a few days with a temperature around freezing it is getting older again. Expecting -11C today. I only took two photos yesterday, and here they are. The old stationhouse in Tungelsta, and a few of the row-houses at Lillgården on the other side of the railroad. Snapped just after 1700 hours yesterday.

The Café

A café in Tungelsta called Med Mig. Located in an old church that was also a gym for a few years. The religious people were fighting each other, (where have I heard that before?), and their boss, (God maybe?), visited one day, and he threw everyone out and changed the locks. A few years later a local construction company stepped in and bought this property and also an older building nearby, and since then two entrepreneurial women have opened this café and also a restaurant in the other building.

A cold winter night

I managed to take a few photos last night. It was a chilly promenade -13C, with frost everywhere. This is the old stationhouse at the Tungelsta commuter station. I upped the ISO here to show the frost in the lit up tree.

Adventsljusstake

Swedish word of the day. Adventsljusstake. Spotted along Nynäsvägen in Handen on Friday afternoon.

That time of the year again

Lights in the dark at Lillgården in Tungelsta.

Macken

Swedish slang word of the day. Macken. The name MACK originally came from a company that produced pumps for filling stations back in the 1930s. It was owned by four men, Mathiasson, Andersson, Collin and Key. Since that day the word "Macken" has been used for any local filling station in the country. This "mack" in Tungelsta was once a Koppartrans filling station. Then it became a Shell station. After that it stood abandoned for a few years but now it is a Gulf station. Macken was also a popular TV show back in the mid 1980s.

The dark side of minimalism

Windows at the newly redesigned Najaden building at Rudsjöterrassen on Sunday afternoon. One or two rooms were lit up and I noticed a few people in one office, but most of the lights were out so when I spotted this "adventsljusstake" in one window I knew that I ha to get a shot of that.

Full Moon

There's a hill at Bergdalen in Tungelsta where I live. I often go up there to capture the sunset. This time it was a few hours later and the moon was full. I find it very peaceful to sit up there in the dark and look at the stars, or as in this case earth's natural satellite.

Moonshine over Bergdalen

My neighbour Danuta was out walking her dog, Benny, when she phoned me. You have to come out and look at the moon she said. So I did. This is shot from were our mailboxes are, looking back at my home. There was a halo above the moon, but I had the wrong camera (Ixus instead of the Digital Rebel) so this is what I got.

Just after sunset

In November it gets really dark in Sweden. Today sun up was at 07:18. Sun down this afternoos at 15:46. It's not my favorite time of the year. But you can get some great photo opportunities. Had you lived in Tungelsta say 30 years ago this would have been a very familiar view. A glowing greenhouse. Today there are only 11 greenhouse businesses left. This is Blomorado. Shot half an hour after sunset. The poinsettia plants needs all the light they can get.