Possible Arson Attack

I was sitting at my computer last evening when I suddenly heard a strange noise outside. I couldn't see anything from where I was, but looking out from the kitchen window I noticed a lot of smoke from the nearby school. I grabbed my camera and ran through the deep snow over to the school to see what had happened. As I came around a corner I could see a lot of smoke from one of the class rooms. The Södertörn Fire and Rescue Service had arrived, and there was a lot of fire fighters, police officers and ambulance personnel at the scene. Luckily no one seem to have been injured. I took a few photos and then walked back home again. On this photo you can see a few smoke divers preparing to go into the burning building. There has been a lot of school fires in Sweden this year, nearly all of them have been started by kids so this could be another arson attack. This incident took place just around the corner from the two car fires I showed you back in October. My flickr contact Tobias Asplind has a few more photos from this fire on his web site. Half an hour after I took my photos the fire had been stopped according to Aftonbladet.

Winter Halo

I noticed this atmospheric phenomenon on my photo promenade yesterday. It's a Halo. Also known as Nimbus. I spotted it above the former fire station in Tungelsta. I'm not the first person to see such a thing of course. But if you follow this link you can read about the Sun Dog Painting (Vädersolstavlan), that Urban the Painter painted some five hundred years ago.

Winter Cottage

A typical Swedish cottage. Painted red with the traditional Falu Red paint. Today these types of old houses are normally used as summer houses. You will find more than 500 000 cottages like this one around Sweden. Preferably close to the coast. This one can be seen in Lida, only one hundred meters away from the house I showed you two days ago.

Ping Pong, Anyone?

We really enjoy sport in this country. And winter sports especially because of the long winters. We are only two months away from the next winter games in Vancouver. Swedish athletes won nine gold medals in Torino, and we will try to defend the Ice-hockey gold as well as the gold medals we won in the different ski disciplines. But I wonder if this somewhat unusual sport will ever make it to the Olympics? Outdoor Winter Table Tennis?

Winter at Lida

Last time I took a photo of this little house in Lida, it had a blue door. The house have since been renovated, and as you can see above the new door they aren't done yet. But I still think it looked better with the blue door.

Winter at Lillhammar

I have taken a daily photo promenade around Tungelsta ever since we got the first snow ten days ago. Today's photos are from Älvvägen in Lillhammar. A red cottage in the snow, and on the other side of the road, two horses enjoying lunch.

Winter at Barbro's Place

Once upon a time there was a mill at this property near the Rocklösaån stream in Tungelsta. After the mill closed in the late 1940s' (it was two hundred years old by then),the place turned into a junk-yard with many rusty old cars. The mill and the junk-yard was owned by a man called Löfqvist. The remains of the mill was burned down in the 1970's.Today my mother's hairdresser Barbro owns the place.

The weather has changed a bit in the last few days. From -14 C and snow fall to +2 C. But it's still snowing!

A Christmas Story

Most of the 4.5 million families in this country will get a tree for Christmas. Preferably a beautiful Norway spruce, like this one, that will survive for another year. Around three million trees will be cut down in Sweden this Christmas. For some reason we also import 300 000 Christmas trees from Denmark. In a recent survey half the people asked, admitted to having stolen a tree at some time. This year 400 000 trees will be stolen. Which means that a lot of people will head out into the woods with an axe and a saw to get a tree for free. What they don't realise is that some forest owners will spray their trees with fertilizer...

Merry Christmas everyone!

Winter Horses

Horses in the snow at the little horse farm at Gråbergsvägen in Tungelsta. One good thing with cold winter days are that they often come with a blue sky. Like on this occasion. It was -12 Celsius as I took this photo. Kinda cold but with the sun shining and no wind it was a refreshing promenade.

Winter Bus Stop

It's -14 Celsius as I'm typing this. Kinda cold even for us Vikings. Today's winter photos shows a bus stop in Tungelsta. Not a place where you would want to wait more than a couple of minutes in this type of weather. Second photo shows the retirement home Ros-Anders Gård. (you can see part of it on the bus stop photo). Named after one of Tungelsta's first gardeners who started a plant nursery on this land 100 years ago. The retirement home was designed by ANOVA architects. It has 40 modern apartments. It was mentioned in a book called Design For Assisted Living written by an American architect called Victor Reigner, who listed this as one of the most interesting retirement homes in the world. To the right on the top photo you can see the pentecostal church. And as most people around here aren't very religious any more (if ever), the building will soon be turned into the new headquarters for the Music Central, so you can expect to hear a lot of rock, punk and reggae music from there in the future. The Music Central is the people behind the Garden Rock Festival.

Please be Seated!

Walking through deep snow can be hard work. After a few kilometres you do start to feel tired, so it's good to know that there are places here and there where you can sit down and relax for a few minutes. Like this fine old chair. I spotted it yesterday at the old brewery in Tungelsta. All alone on the lawn, next to the swimming pool, that probably won't be used for a while. Oh and this photo made the first page at Utata today!

Mrs. Walkman

For many years the cross walking sign in Sweden depicted a man. He was called Herr Gårman. Mr. Walkman in English, but it you say Herr Gårman quickly it also means you walk here in Swedish. But as women also have been known to cross the streets someone (angry feminist perhaps), decided that a Mrs. Walkman sign was what we needed. This started a long debate and in the end the government ordered the Swedish Road Administration to create a new sign. Which they did after talking it over with the Division for Gender Equality. And here is the result. Fru Gårman is her name. The only problem is that the you walk here word play doesn't work any longer.


I took the photo earlier today. We got a few more decimetres of snow overnight.

Winter Views

I took a winter promenade yesterday. It was cold but sunny, so I can't really complain. There are many places around Tungelsta where I know that I will get a decent photo or two. Here are two of them. First photo is from Mulsta where you will find a lot of horses. This one lives in a stable nearby and was enjoying it's hay lunch as I walked by. A few minutes after taking this photo I met Malin who works at the stable. She was out riding her horse ( Update Malin said in a comment that she was out riding on a friends horse called Sága), and had just been down to Välsta which was where I was going next, because I know that you wanted to have another look at the old tree.

Sudden Change in the Weather

Winter has arrived. Just like that. At least for some people. The meteorologists had been warning for the snow fall for at least one week. Did that help? Not one bit. Everyone seemed very surprised and chaos has been a good word to use the last few days with accidents on and off the roads. On the top photo you can see me shooting a self portrait in a traffic mirror at the Tungelsta commuter station. Second photo shows snowed in bikes at the station, and the last photo shows an abandoned car in a ditch,also in Tungelsta.

Four Fun Portraits

My last post from the historical Christmas market in Handen that I visited over the weekend. Four fun portraits, and a slideshow with all the photos. Top left is a Viking family. They were just visiting, and didn't have anything for sale at the market, but I think they are member of the Tattarklanen. Top right shows my flickr friend Jim trying his best to stop Fenja the goat from eating his camera equipment. Bottom left is a fun portrait of the girl who was in charge of the coffee and saffron buns at the museum. She took turns with her mother posing with this rather unusual headwear. Not sure about here name, but I met her at the Christmas market in Västerhaninge a few weeks ago. Bottom right shows Agnes. She 's one of the organisers and runs the museum together with her husband Martin, the Blacksmith. She was in charge of the food distribution and here you see her serving me a hot dog. If she looks familiar it's because you have met Agnes here before. I took a portrait of her and Martin at a musical event in September last year.

A Day at the Museum

There was Medieval music at the historical Christmas marke in Handen last Saturday. This duo is called Korp (Raven). To the left Gunnar Nordlinder who plays drums, Jew's harp and a few more instruments. To the right Karen Petersen who sings and as you can see here she also plays the fiddla, a type of violin. The fiddla dates back to the Middle Ages. There were lots of handmade Christmas items for sale in the museum. Like these rather unusual candle holders. On the third and last photo you can spot The Ring Bearer talking to Jocke Lavett, two of the Vikings that I met back in October.

A Day at the Market

As promised, here are a few more photos from the historical Christmas market that I visited last weekend. Arranged by the Blacksmith Martin (third photo) and his wife Agnes (who designs jewellery), at their museum in Handen. Outside you could buy handicraft made by the Blacksmiths, and also get a hot dog that was cooked over an open fire (second photo). The museum (top photo) has a rather unusual story. It's an old cottage called Svensro that Martin and Agnes has been able to save.They have moved it from it's original location with the help of some of their friends. You can see photos at their web site. After enjoying a hot dog and talking to some of the Vikings that I met in October, and taking a portrait of Caroline I went inside for a coffee and some music,photos of that to come tomorrow.

It's begining to look like Christmas

Applause please. A happy looking Svante Engblom (second photo), urging the crowds to applaud him and Vendela (top photo), in Västerhaninge yesterday. The duo sometimes perform under the name Sveng. I met them during the Christmas market on Sunday. They performed before and after the 2009 Lucia Bride Sofia Högmark made an appearance with her six maids.

Saint Lucy and her Brides

We celebrate Saint Lucy's Day today. And here is the 2009 National Lucia Bride, Sofia Högmark, surrounded by her six maids. They are Hannadi El Assir, Maria Arvinder, Anna Ekman, Ann-Sofie Larsdotter,Elin Klingfors and Emma Fagerström. It's a busy time for the girls with appearances all over the country, but they did have time to pose for a few photos after their performance in Västerhaninge today, where they sang Christmas Carols before a big crowd. I told them that I would leave a comment at Sofia's blog so that they would know where to see the photos and that seemed to cheer them up a bit! The official crowning took place at Skansen in Stockholm a few hours after I met the girls. In a few days time they will leave Sweden and fly south to Italy where they will visit Syracuse from were the tradition originates.

Caroline

Remember all the Vikings I showed you earlier this year? This weekend they have a historical Christmas market at the museum in Handen. I visited today with my flickr pal Jim and met quite a few people, and I will show you some photos from the event in the coming week. And here is the first portrait. Meet Caroline. She was selling ecological sheep skin rugs that she imports from Iceland. The rugs comes from meat lambs and comes in many varieties of shades and tones. Caroline is setting up her own business at the moment, it will be called Ekoviking, or in English Eco Viking.

Finally a blue sky again

It's been a while but we did see a blue sky in Haninge today, at least for a few hours. I took the bike around Lower Lake Rudan in Handen. The path I used is today known as The Maxinge Path (Maxingeslingan). It is handicap friendly and is sponsored by a local supermarket. It was opened just a month or two ago and is very popular, it was there that I met Beki just the other week. And it is here that the very upset skier was hoping to be able to ski his way around the lake.


Skywatch Friday.

It's just a façade

This is the old city hall building in Handen. In Swedish it was known as Nämndhuset. It was built in 1971. I visited once as a very nervous twelve year old as I was "helping the police with an investigation". The politicians and everyone else moved out of here nearly three years ago, and the building has been empty ever since. The high-rise was bought by the construction company Fabege one year ago, and they will turn it into an apartment building with around 90 flats and a few shops on the first floor. It's located smack in the middle of the Handen mall so I suspect that many shopaholics will be queueing for an apartment here! Oh, and if you are wondering where the politicians ended up you can see that in this post from a few years ago.

Santa Hanging On For Dear Life

I hope he makes it.

The bus arrived. To no avail.

Do you like Six Word Stories? I do. This is one. Made from two sentences. Perhaps not as good as the one Hemingway wrote, but good enough for me. I shot the photo today. In Handen. A grey and rainy day, and I really feel for the people who were waiting for this bus...

A Mother & Daughter Thing

This is Jennifer and Ulrika, daughter and mother. I met them at the Christmas market at Tyresta on Saturday. They were selling their home made candles. Jennifer makes gel candles, and her mother Ulrika, who has her own business, are into decorative molded candles. None of the candles in their stall were lit, which was probably a good thing, as it was raining most of the day!

The Chef

Meet the Chef. Linda Klasson. She's The Lady in Red. Her assistant of the day, the woman with the green scarf is her mother, Inger. They were at the Tyresta Christmas market on Saturday selling some of Linda's home made produce. Linda has a business called Glöd Vildmarkskök. Which means The Wilderness Kitchen. And that is Linda's speciality. Cooking in the wild. She will often take her clients out on an adventure in the wild, sometimes in the woods around Tyresta, and as this is a National Park she has a permission to do so. And what will she serve? How about Grilled Whitefish with a mustard creme? Or maybe you prefer the Moose Burger with Västerbotten Cheese. Or you could choose the Wilderness Buffet with salmon and reindeer sausage. Sound delicious if you ask me.

Santa and the musicians

I visited the Christmas market at Tyresta today. Tyresta is a historical village and a well known national park in Haninge. The market took place at the square at the tiny village and there were a few stalls with food and handicraft, and I will show you some more photos and portraits in the coming days. One of the first people that I met today was Santa! If he looks familiar it's because I photographed him at another market one year ago. His real name is Ronny.After talking to him I heard some music. It was these two guys who decided to cheer up the crowds by performing a few Christmas Carols in the rain. I stayed around for a little over one hour before jumping back on my bicycle for a somewhat wet 15 kilometre ride home.

An exclusive with Bob Dylan

The latest issue of Situation Stockholm features an interview with Bob Dylan. I bought my copy from Stefan whom I meet in Västerhaninge on Wednesday. If you would like to read the Dylan interview you can find it at SNS. Stefan said that it was a cold morning today but that a lot of people came up for a talk and quite a few of them bought a copy. As I always do when I take a portrait I gave Stefan a MOO card, he said he didn't know much about flickr and blogs, but figured his twelve year old daughter was more up to date with the internet.
About the paper, Situation Stockholm started back in 1995 inspired by The Big Issue in Great Britain.

A Swedish Marine Soldier

This is Roger. A man in uniform. But only for one more day. Tomorrow he will be a civilian again after finishing his Call-Up. He has done his eleven month long National Service at the Amphibious Regiment at Berga in Haninge. Also known as The 1st Marine Regiment. His immediate plan is to get a job as a security guard. In the future he is hoping for a career in the military. He might sign up ISAF which means that he could end up in Afghanistan.

Glowing Greenhouse

December started with a very colorful sunset in Tungelsta. This was the view from my front door at Bergdalen yesterday afternoon. Looks a bit like the sunset I showed you two years ago. You are looking at a greenhouse that we built back in 1990. These days it's owned by Ingemar and Danuta at Blomorado, but just as back then this time of the year it's filled with thousands of poinsettia plants. Oh, and if you would like to see how the glowing greenhouses look from the top of the hill press here.

Waiting Around

I often approach people that look like they are waiting for something. Like this group of great peeps that all took their time posing for a portrait and who also happily answered a few of my questions while waiting. You can find all of them on this blog. Rosanna and Lisa were waiting for a bus. Ida was waiting for her mother. Max and Sabina sat on a bench at a commuter station. Mikael and Bosse where waiting for a photo opportunity. Alexander for a fish to bite. Emma was waiting for the bus home. Michelle was waiting for a ride on the same bench as Petronella and Bettina who was waiting for the train. John's bike had broken down and he waited for assistance to arrive. The trainspotter Benjamin from Germany was waiting for a freight train to pass. The ice-fisher Nils was waiting out on the frosen lake. Andreas with the broken Harley was waiting for help. Rolf was waiting for the King of the Forest. Malin was waiting to become a mother. Finally Stina who was waiting for the bus.

Today is theme day and as you have probably already guessed the theme for December is Waiting. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants