A Future Police Officer

Spring is here, and with it the sunshine, so all the cool kids are wearing sunglasses. This pretty girl is nicknamed Karro. I spotted her in Handen yesterday and moved in for a chat and a portrait. Karro works at the veterinary clinic in Kolartorp (Jim has a photo of the clinic).Karro comes from Rangsta in Nynäshamn. Her big hobby is horses which isn't all that surprising as she grew up on a horse farm. So you are a future veterinarian then I asked? But that wasn't the case at all. In stead she wants to become a police officer. That was all we had time to talk about as Karro was late for her train.

A Familiar Face

Walking down the snowy path, that leads down to the old tree this afternoon I met the very photogenic Patricia and her horse Raven, who didn't like having it's portrait taken. Last time I met Patricia she had returned home from a lengthy visit to Spain. Now she is saving up for a possible trip to India.

She's in Fashion

That old Suede song will work fine for today's poladroid photo as I attended a fashion show at the Haninge mall yesterday. All the models that participated were locals that had auditioned for their chance to appear on the catwalk. It was a crowded affair and impossible to get close enough for any really good photos of all the different models. The fun thing was that we saw both men and women and also one or two older models.

Haninge Earth Hour

There was an open house in Handen today because of Earth Hour. I visited City Hall and listened to a music concert performed by the young students from the Haninge Music School. A few organisations were at hand to inform about easy ways to save energy. The woman in the collage is Karin who runs a environmental blog called Karins Miljöblogg. She handed out an Everyday Green Ideas questionnaire that I forgot to fill in. You could travel in style between City Hall and the Cultural Centre. With horse power if you were a kid, and with pedal power if you were a bit older. The guy on the rickshaw is Josef. He runs a company called Euro Rikshaw. I thought he looked familiar and sure enough I have a photo of him taken in Stockholm a few years ago.

The Swedish Whitebeam

I walked down to the old tree yesterday. Some of the snow has melted away, which is nice. I noticed a few common cranes on the meadow. Unfortunately they were too far away for my camera, despite the fact that I had the zoom lens mounted. And this somewhat different view of the old tree was tricky to shoot. It is six photos shot with the zoom lens, which I then stitched together and turned into a black and white photo.

Scary accident at the Mall

I have heard before about accidents were people have been killed by falling flagpoles. It has been very windy in Haninge this week, and earlier today this flagpole broke and fell to the ground near one of the entrances to the Haninge mall. The ambulance arrived just a few minutes before I took this photo. A group of people had gathered, and this police officer was trying to remove the heavy flagpole. Someone must have been badly hurt. Not sure who is responsible for looking after the flag poles, has to be the municipality or the mall. I stopped at the cafe after taking this photon where two of my friends were busy working on their laptops, so we searched online for news about this incident, but didn't find anything.

Voff!

I found another Roundabout Dog yesterday. Which was a bit of a surprise as the dog wasn't standing in a roundabout. So the question is, is it still a Roundabout Dog? No idea what I am going on about? Try one of the links after looking at the slideshow. Oh, and the cow in the set was made by a man who told me that he was inspired by the Roundabout Dog movement.

Bugs en masse

In It For The Kids

This is Saga and Ilja.They are lovers that sort of live together at Ilja's place in Haninge. Saga works at a kindergarten, and Ilja is a teacher. He passed the exam only two day ago. Both like to draw and paint. Saga used to compete in show jumping, so I told her that moving to Haninge could be a good move, as there are horse farms all over the place here. Ilja sees himself as a future Doctorate in pedagogy. He is currently working on a new art project where he will make a large sized deck of cards with video game characters. Saga is a keen photographer and has taken a few good ones over the years so I told her to set up a flickr account. I met the couple at Poseidon's Square in Handen yesterday.

The Daily Commute

A cross country skier at Lake Rudan this warm and sunny (Spring?), afternoon. Possibly the last weekend for skiing here as it was 8 C today, and the snow is quickly melting away. In the background the commuter train leaving the Handen station heading for Jordbro.

Breakfast on the Veranda

The photogenic squirrel has been back for a few more photo shoots. Here he is enjoying breakfast on the veranda table.

Summer vs. Winter

This cottage in Tungelsta is known as Håkanstorp, or Håkstorp. It dates back to 1690. It is located on a hill near the Haga farm, that I showed you in a slideshow last summer. Håkstorp is mentioned in one of Ivar Lo Johansson's auto-biographies. The famous author lived down the road at Djurgårdsgrind when he was a school boy. One day he visits the cottage and buys his first ever rifle, from the blacksmith Anders Peter Andersson, that lived here 90 years ago. In the book Johansson describes how he spends the night at Lake Tornberga hoping to shoot something. In the end he kills a grouse.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

No St. Patrick's Day Parade in Haninge, so here is my favorite Irish dry stout, Guinness. Skål!

Johanna

This is Johanna. I first noticed her at the bakery and cafe this afternoon where she was applying for a job. A bit later I saw her again near a Supermarket and decided to ask her for a portrait. Johanna is a student at the Riksäpplet secondary school, where she is reading studying the hotel and restaurant programme. Johanna told me that she is a good baker and is always experimenting with different cake recipes, but that she will never eat the cakes, she leaves that for friends and family! The reason for that is that she wants to stay fit. She used to compete both in horse riding and tennis, but for now she only works out at the gym. I hope Henrik will give her the job so that she can serve me coffee and one of her cakes at the cafe this spring!

At Winters End

If you want to believe the meteorologists spring is now officially here. So when I noticed this digger on top of a snow mound at Nedersta Gärde this afternoon I figured it would be a good way to say goodbye to this long and cold winter. I have created a flickr set with my 2010/2011 winter shots, so feel free to have a look at those.

Feed Me, Feed Me, Feed Me!

One of the squirrels at Bergdalen trying it's best to hypnotize me so that I would fill up the bird feeder. It worked according to plan.

The future's so bright...

This is AC, which is short for Anna-Carin. She's a 9th grade student from Vendelsö. I spotted her in Lida yesterday as she and a friend came walking down the Mulsta road. Her camera shy friend was carrying a camera of her own which was why I decided to stop for a chat. Turns out that Anna-Carin's big hobby is horses. The girls had been up to the stable at Mulsta where AC keeps her horse Ella. Her friend with the camera, Elin, had been busy taking photos of Ella. And as I started taking photos AC started to giggle and had a hard time keeping a straight face all thanks to her friend Elin who was doing her best to unsettle AC!

A Real Honey

This is Melis. I met her in Handen yesterday. The name Melis comes from the Mediterranean region and in Greek it means honey. Melis was born and raised in Haninge, but these days she's a globetrotter. She spent one year in Canada, working at many different places, including hotels and shops. She speaks five languages. Swedish, English,Turkish, German and Spanish, so there's no surprise that she has also worked as a translator. She told me that she finds it easy to learn new languages, and is planning to learn Russian next. The last two years she has worked her way around Turkey. I have probably lived in all the major cities she told me. One place she worked was the five star luxury hotel Gloria Serenity in Belek. Guests there included the jet set, local celebrities, Swedish golf tourists and also wealthy Russian men who arrived with their mistresses! In the future Melis sees herself working as a history teacher at University level.

Autumn vs. Winter

As you know by now I always return for another photo to some of my favorite places in Haninge. So this might look familiar to you. A red cottage overlooking Upper Lake Rudan in Handen. I shot the Autumn half of the diptych in October of last year. The winter side of the photo is how the red cottage looked yesterday.

It's Still Winter

It hasn't been easy to get around as a pedestrian or a cyclist this winter. Walking on the snowy and icy sidewalks have been scary to say the least. I am still amazed that I haven't broken any bones this winter. This week I have been playing Kamikaze cyclist as I have navigated the walkways. All of the roads are fine, there's no snow or ice on them, but no one seems to care much about the sidewalks.

Summer vs. Winter

Time for another diptych in my Different Seasons series. And what a difference it is. This is the grassy beach at Upper Lake Rudan in Handen. The summer part of the photo is from June of last year. The winter half, where you can spot a lone ice skater out on the frozen lake is how the beach looked yesterday.

Akira Powwie

This is Sam. She's a secondary student at the Fredrika Bremer- school in Handen where she is studying music. And of course photography. When I met her in Handen today she was out taking winter photos for a school project. Sam is a musician. She plays the guitar and is working on her debut album at the moment. Her showbiz name is Akira Powwie. Remember where you heard it first!

A truck on the railtrack

I heard on the radio just now that there was no commuter trains running between Nynäshamn and Västerhaninge. This is probably one reason. A Volvo truck from Infranord at the Krigslida level crossing on the Nynäsbanan railtrack. I had to wait for several minutes as two of the workers tried to manually lift the barriers. There are lots of work going on here now as a new railtrack is being built between Tungelsta and Västerhaninge.

The Anchor

This is Ankaret. It's a housing cooperative along Allévägen in Tungelsta. It consists of four apartment buildings and was built in 1963. Before Ankaret was built there stood another property here called Skogshyddan, where the veterinarian Henrik Torsten Wanselin lived. Skogshyddan was built in 1903 and you can see a photo of it if you press here.

The old Stationhouse

The old Station House in Tungelsta (it dates back to 1902), is always fun to shoot, so here is another look at the building that was designed by Ferdinand Boberg. I recently listened to a recording made with my grandfather Harald Fredrik Jansson, where he described a few winter journeys to Stockholm back when the rail-road was new. His father Johan Fredrik Jansson opened the first plant nursery in Tungelsta 100 years ago (it is called Blomorado today). Back then the first steam train of the day left for Stockholm from the station in Handen, ten kilometres from Tungelsta, which meant that the women that sold the vegetables, fruits and flowers at the Haymarket had to walk for two hours every morning in the snow. They wore long dresses that quickly became wet from the snow and by the time they had reached the station their dresses was heavy with ice. Back then not everyone owned a truck or a car so sometimes they travelled back and forth to Stockholm with a horse drawn vehicle. That took four hours one way. It's a bit easier to get around these days!

Professionals at Work

I have never used a chainsaw in my life. There's professionals you can hire for that sort of thing. Like the ones here at Hammar in Tungelsta. These guys are arborists, or tree surgeons, if you like that title better. There's lot of construction work going on around Hammar at the moment with the new rail-track, the bridge over the commuter station, and the work on the road that passes by the estate. I'm guessing that the Swedish Transport Administration have hired these guys to fix Charlotte's 200 year old tree lined avenue. She had to sell some of her property and I think the STA have promised her that they would help her with the impressive entrance.

Snow Rose

Someone has left a bunch of red roses in the snow next to the execution rock in Jordbro. Not sure why. I can't remember if I have posted a photo of the rock on the blog, but here is a related story from the Summer of 2009.

Poseidon's Square

It's starting to look like a real building site at Poseidon's Square in Handen now. Six apartment buildings will be built here next to the cultural centre. As I took a few photos one of the workers, a truck driver, came up to me. He waited for me to finish shooting, and then asked me if I worked there. Nope, I'm just taking a few quick photos. He then informed me that I couldn't stand where I was shooting, as I was maybe two steps in on the building site, where absolutely nothing was happening. I answered, no worries, I know the building site manager. The truck driver wasn't too impressed by that and responded in Moronic (is that a language?), I really don't give a shit about that. So I told him, also in Moronic, that I don't give a shit about anything he has to say to me. And that was that. I was done, so I took two steps back and was on my way as he took off in his truck.

Lakeside

Theme day. My favorite part of town. Has to be the lakes at Rudan. A recreational area only one minutes walk from the commuter station in Handen. If you like the outdoors this is the place for you. In the summer time people come here for a swim, or sunbathing on the cliffs, or at the beach. In the winter you can go ice skating on the frozen lake, or try ice fishing .It' s also very popular with skiers. I am here on a weekly basis. I usually go for a walk or a bike ride around the lower lake. It's also one of my favorite places to shoot portraits as there's often some sports activity here and this is also one of the places used for the Haninge Day celebrations.


Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

The Walkway

This is the walkway at Nederstaleden in Västerhaninge. The winter version is how it looks today. The green version is how it looks in July. July is my favorite. I use this walkway year round and have shot a couple of portraits here over the last few years.

Winter Construction

There has been a lot of construction work in Haninge during this long, cold and snowy winter. Here are a few photos of that presented in a slideshow. The photos shows a few building sites in Tungelsta and Västerhaninge as well as two new bridges in Tungelsta and Västerhaninge. You can mouse-over the photos to choose to see the description on the individual photos.

Still Winter

As I'm typing this the sun is shining and the temperature is around 0C, but it will probably be a few days before I can enjoy coffee outside at home because when I do that I normally use this table.

That Old Tree

After a few weeks with a severe cold spell and temperatures as low as -20C, Friday started much warmer. I took a walk to the old tree and it was around 0C and not much wind to speak of. Looks like spring could be on its way after all. I wonder how many more snow photos of the old tree I will have to shoot this winter.

The old water tower

Back in 1912, a few years after the first plant nurseries opened in Tungelsta a water tower was built at the Rocklösaån stream at Gideon Wolmer's property. For many years the tower provided water for many of the greenhouses in the area. They used a "vindmotor" to pump up the water to the water tank. Today everything associated with the water supply is long gone and the building is used for storage. The Wolmer greenhouses are also gone. I took a photo of the sad remains two years ago and they are also gone now.

The Chef

The Chef was out shovelling snow today. He has done a lot of that this winter. Bosse was a truck driver for many years, working for the local flower freight company which meant delivering flowers from all the plant nurseries in Tungelsta to the wholesale distribution centre at Årsta in Stockholm. Before that he was a chef at sea, which sounds more exciting. The second photo shows the path he was shovelling and the house where he lives, I shot that photo a few winters ago.

Closed For Go(o)d

No idea what is happening here. A snowed-over car at the pentecostal church in Tungelsta. I have never been inside the church. I noticed a removal van here last week. If you check out their web site, a blinking message informs that the members have been locked out of the building by Filadelfia Stockholm, whatever that means!

The Old Stationhouse

Another look at the Tungelsta Station House, along the Nynäsbanan railway line. It's been there since 1901. The architect was the famous Ferdinand Boberg. Back then the trip from Nynäshamn to Stockholm took two hours with the steam train. These days it takes one hour with the commuter. Today there's a handicraft boutique in the beautiful old building, but the former train dispatcher still lives on the second floor.

A Study in Elegance

On my long winter walk yesterday I noticed a familiar face near the library in Västerhaninge. It was Sara, the priestess. She always looks great so I tend to ask her for a portrait whenever I see her. On this occasion Sara was on her way to the brick church in Tungelsta, where she was to perform a baptism in around 40 minutes time. The bus was still 20 minutes away so she had to call for a last minute taxi. Probably not a good idea to arrive late to the church when you are the one performing the baptism, wouldn't look good! We had time for a chat and Sara even told me a secret before heading into the library and the warmth in there.

Any Carrots?

I took a 12 km promenade today. A cold day, around -8C but with a clear blue sky. Stopped at Mulsta for a few horse photos, where I also talked to a guy who was taking some snaps of the horses with his iPhone, and I told him about the zoom lens for the iPhone.

Winter Sky

Had you walked down this road at Skogsekeby in Tungelsta a few years ago you would have seen the greenhouses at Rosenborg. The first gardener at Rosenborg was Hjalmar Pettersson. He later sold the business to a man called Englund. After that the Stockhaus family took over the plant nursery. The last gardener to work here was Mårten Strandell, who today lives with his family in the red house. Today a number of new houses are been built here and the area is known as Ekeby Villakvarter. The two houses you see in this photo were built two years ago. I have a photo of that here.

Skywatch Friday.

Where did you park the car, honey?

I have said it before, it is going to be a long winter...

Rosenhill

These greenhouses at Rosenhill in Tungelsta are no longer in use. I think there's an old car parked inside one of them.The property belongs to Rolf Andersson who lives nearby. I remember seeing a for sale sign here last year, but I don't know if he has sold or not. This part of Tungelsta is undergoing a lot of change at the moment. New houses are being built here and there, and I noticed one new house on my walk today.

A Tastier Coffee?

On a recent visit to Coop Forum I noticed this coffee ad. Apparently Sweden has a new favorite coffee brand. I did not know that. I guess I will have to change to Löfbergs Lila now. Listed on the map of Sweden here are some of the places that serve this coffee, but I think I will stick with Gevalia.

Winter Parking

I am still suffering from the Delhi-belly, so here is a recent photo from my flickr archives that I haven't shown you. It's an update from November. A very fine auto-mobile parked at the abandoned filling station here in Tungelsta. The car is probably completely covered by the snow now as we have had a lot of snow in the last week. Weather wise I can tell you that we had -20C (4 ºF), last night.

Winter at Ängshagen

On a recent promenade I stopped at Ängshagen along Vädersjövägen for a photo. It is an old farm close to where my mother grew up. Today it is a horse farm. Seven years ago I took a photo of a very old shed here,PRESS HERE to see that photo. Sadly the last two winters was too much for that building as you can see on my second photo.