Munchin' away

Roe deer in a small forest in Tungelsta. We got some more snow yesterday but it melted away within a few hours. Still cold today, maybe 2C, but according to the weather people it will be 13C tomorrow.

That Old Tree

I took this photo of the old tree two days ago when it was still warm. At least 16C I think. Yesterday it snowed! I don't know who to call to complain about that so I might as well do it here. Enough with the snow and Winter already, okay? Oh, and speaking about complaining I ordered a crap lens via Amazon Underground a while back. It arrived yesterday. It costed nearly nothing and it has a zoom feature of 420mm to 800mm. Manual focus and probably built in a garage somewhere in China, but hey why not give it a try? So I screwed on the t mount it came with and steeped outside to take a few test snaps. Obviously it didn't work. I can't find any focus anywhere as nothing happens when I turn the focus ring.

Roadside Work

Construction of a big interchange at Vega in Handen, on Road 73 also known as Nynäsvägen, means a lot of work on nearby roads, like here at Söderbyleden/Torfastleden. A new roundabout is being constructed, as well as a walkway/bike-lane across the big open field.

Sixteen cars

Okay so it is a bit of an obsession. Sometimes when I bike over the bridge at Gudöbroleden in handen I feel an urge to stop and take a few photos of passing cars. This was one of those days. But then again there are some cool cars in this collage.

On Two Wheels

We had an unexpected visitor yesterday. It was Summer that dropped by. A couple of temperature records were broken. We had 18C in Haninge. I don't think that has happened before in March. So I did what I sometimes do on a hot Summer's day. I placed myself on a bridge and took some photos of motorcycles and other two wheelers. One or two cool bikes here. My faves here would be the red Ducati and the chopper.

Anemone hepatica

Another sign of Spring. Spotted near the ancient burial site in Jordbro. And I also managed to step on, and scare away a common viper as I walked into the forest for a few photos.

The hill at Snurrom

This is the hill that I walked up yesterday. The nearest property is a tiny horse farm called Snurrom. It is also a horse pasture for the warmer part of the year. I walk up here a few times every year. You have a great view towards Kalvsvik in Österhaninge and further away the Medieval church. You can also see the Snurrom farm, Jordbro and Nynäsvägen, also known as Road 73. If this all sounds and looks very familiar you are equipped with a good memory because i took an almost identical photo here one year ago.

Through The Trees

If you stand on the top of the Snurrom hill and look towards Jordbro you can just see the latest apartment building currently under construction. It will be 229 apartments in six buildings. The name of the project is Kalvsvik, which is a bit funny because if I had turned the camera 180 degrees to the right you would have seen the real Kalvsvik which is a horse farm in rural Österhaninge. This is the first new residence to be constructed in Jordbro for a quarter of a century. Built by "Allmännyttan". Two old buildings were demolished to make room for the new houses.

Third time's a charm

After posting my first photo of a crocus this year it obviously started to snow again. So I decided to play it more safe and snuck in a few crocus snaps in a recent collage. The result? Yep, you guessed it, more snow. But you know what they say. Third time's a charm so here we go again.

1955 Buick Century

Spring is definitely here now. Spotted this old Buick parked at the shopping centre in in Västerhaninge a couple of days ago. The owner told me that he had bought the car after last Summer's annual greaser meet at Vegabaren, (one of my favorite events in Haninge). He looked familiar, as did his girlfriend, whom I am pretty sure I have photographed at that event once or twice, but this time I was happy just to shoot the old Buick.

Ladybug & me

We had a sunny weekend. Although still way too cold for my liking. I took two bike rides and cut both of them short because of the strong wind. But there is one place at home where it is always warm and that is the corner next to the door at the stairs. So on both Saturday and Sunday that's where I spent some time warming up with coffee and cake, when I wasn't running around chasing the first Ladybug of the year. Both photos taken with the pancake lens but I did use one of my extension tubes to get a little closer.

The New Commuter Station

The rebuilt commuter station in Tungelsta is starting to look a bit like the illustrations I saw at the Trafikverket web site before the work began. You can now bike under the tunnel, something that will come in handy as they closed the rail-road crossing two years ago. I shot this with the full frame camera, standing on stairs that are not yet in use. It took nine photos using the nifty fifty lens I then cropped the finished panorama to look like normal photo.

Ford 5-Window Coupe

Another sign of Spring. A 1937 Ford in Västerhaninge yesterday. Not sure, but it could be Håkan who also owns a legendary Hot Rod.

Lost Rings

Last August an elderly woman, (91 years old), was enjoying a Summer day at the beach here at Årsta Havsbad when she realised that she had lost her engagement and wedding rings, while swimming close to the pier that you can see here. The rings are from 1946 and 1948. The family looked for them in the water but they couldn't find the rings. If you do find them please contact the police at 114 14.

After The Paintball

For a few year you could play paintball at this property along Årstahavsbadsvägen in Österhaninge. It was quite popular, never tried it myself but I often saw people here. Now it looks like the paintball people have moved on to a new location in another forest in Jordbro and pretty much just left this one to itself. So I decided to have a closer look. You would probably have to be the worlds best real estate broker to sell this property now. Although I could give them a little help. It is very close to the beach and even closer to a couple of golf courses. If you are heading out to the archipelago the ferry port is also close. There's a lot of forest to walk in if you like that sort of thing. The closest malls are also just a short drive away. Any takers?

Sixteen Recent Snaps

Funny weather of late. These are some snaps from around Haninge taken this month. Yellow crocus found at home. Roof tiles at the construction site in Lillgården in Tungelsta. Snowdrops at Krigslida. Ice fishing at the Lower Lake at the Rudan nature reserve. Family fun out on the ice at the Upper Lake. Ice bracelet found near the old tree. New greenhouse at the Nödesta farm. Say after me: Hasselhängen. The new commuter station in Tungelsta. A bird! Snow on a chair. Zooming in on a house at Kvarnvägen in Tungelsta, photo taken from the hill at Bergdalen, (where I live). Two skiers at Rudan. More crocuses from home. Construction workers at Lillgården. People working out at the outdoor gym at Rudan.

Ice Fishing

I counted seven ice fishers on the frozen Lower Lake during my visit last Sunday. This guy was sitting further out on the lake compared to the others, maybe he knew something the others didn't.

Winter at the lakes

Two recent photos from the Upper Lake at the Rudan nature reserve in Handen. I don't know exactly how thick the ice was, but thick enough for ice skating around the frozen lake as proven here. Parking the bike out on the ice like that is a bit unusual. Looks like the family on the second photo are preparing for both ice skating and Ice fishing, although if he wants to catch any fish he should head over to the Lower lake.

The Pier in March

The pier in March. The lake is still frozen. I spotted quite a few ice fishers out on the ice during my promenade here yesterday.

That Old Tree

I took this photo of the old three on Thursday. It was a very foggy day. Chances are that this was the last Winter photo this season,(of the tree I mean), but you can never be too sure when it comes to the weather.

Wagon dumped in the stream

The old barn at Nödesta, known locally as Guatemala collapsed a few Winters ago. It was around 200 years old. I liked the old barn and I have taken a few photos of it over the years. The farmer Janne, didn't own the land and the municipality didn't want to help him out with the old buildings, so it had to happen I guess. A company called Rivners removed what was left of the barn a couple of years later, but they left the stuff that had been left inside the barn. Then, last year Janne bought the farm from the municipality, but that doesn't really explain why he decided to dump one of the wagons in the nearby stream.

Beaver silhouette

My third and last photo from the mound along Stavsvägen in Tungelsta. When the mound is gone it will be replaced with a new park that will follow the stream. The water you see here is part of a future water storage dam. There will also be a number of allotment gardens just here. In the background you can see the rebuilt commuter station as well as the old station house plus a few private homes, the former post office, today a restaurant and also the roof of the brick church that dates back to 1974. I didn't notice the beaver silhouette until I opened the photo in Photoshop and now I cant unsee it, hence the title.

Winter Construction

After shooting the It's Still Winter photo that I posted yesterday I turned around 180 degrees to shoot this photo of the construction site at Lillgården in Tungelsta.

It's Still Winter

Winter came back. Just like that. Total chaos in the traffic of course. Accidents everywhere. This was the scene at Mulsta in Tungelsta earlier today. Mulsta is an old farm. The same family, the Anderson's have lived and worked there for three hundred years.

Stolen&Dumped

A stolen and dumped car at the recycling station in Tungelsta.

Visible

Out walking at Välsta recently, looking for any signs of Spring. Nothing to report, but I snapped this from a little hill. I'm sure the white house at Lidavägen 25 will be invisible from here in a month or two.

Fikarast

Update from Brf Blicken, part of the Haningeterrassen project. It will be a 18 storey apartment building when they are done. Construction work stopped a while back because of a delivery problem, but now they are back working again, although it looks like one worker had just been on a coffee break. Or Fikarast as we say over here.

Settling in

Back in October of last year I noticed a crappy looking caravan parked near the Rudan nature reserve in Jordbro. I suspected that someone was going to move in there for good, and that it would be very messy there soon, so I emailed the municipality about it. They answered the following day and informed me that they would sort it out by sending in one of their fearful parking attendants. Pretty sure that didn't work, this was the scene there earlier this week. So I mailed them again with the updated photo and they responded, claiming that their parking attendant had been unable to locate the caravan!

First crocus of the year

Here it is. The first crocus of the year. Found it yesterday afternoon. Always the first sign of Spring so I won't even mentioned that it was snowed over this morning!

Dumped caravan

Lots of dumped caravans popping up around Stockholm in the last few years. This one can be admired at the household waste recycling centre near the retirement home in Tungelsta. Yours for the taking I guess.

Black and white in color

Theme Day. Black and White in color. Decided to go with an archival photo for this one. This is a birch forest at Välsta. I often walk here and I am very good at scaring away the local wildlife when I do.