A visit to the cafe

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

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

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

Spotted a brown rat yesterday.

Twas just another November Day

This might be Blitzen. No sign of Santa.

Cutting & Splitting

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

Misty Road

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...

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

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

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

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...

...a free lunch.

Autumn Me

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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