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.

Frost-covered leaf

Yesterday morning it was -10C from a somewhat clear sky. This morning 4C from a very gray sky.

Klädnypor

Swedish word of the day. Clothespins,(in my back garden). Second photo is a bit of flickr fun with that same photo. And if you are equally as bored with the weather as I am, check out how to waste your time doing a similar photo signature in the flickr group for just that.

Frostbite

Too cold for this photographer this Winter.

Monochrome Frost

My neighbour can be a bit weird. To prevent people from walking across his property,(a tiny forest, not used by anyone for anything, not counting the wildlife), he has had his employees cut down trees and place them on the path to make it trickier to walk there. Obviously no one cares about that and people walk there every day. This is a photo of one such tree. Shot with the new 60mm lens.

Winter is coming

A cold morning

Bit of a cold morning. Took a walk with the new 60mm macro lens. This was the first photo, aiming my lens at a common hazel.

I Never Finish Anything...

Said the builder. Same roof in late October can be seen here.

Norra allén

The northern tree lined avenue leading down to Årsta castle.

And now the weather

November really isn't my time of the year. I haven't picked up a camera for a little over a week now. This photo of a gray storage bin, found near the Björkhagen cottage last week, sums up how I feel at the moment. Might try to use one of the Canon's tomorrow though as the meteorologists have promised a bit of sunshine.

Cat Graffiti

Dive-tower

The dive-tower at my favorite beach on a coldish November day. No one else around.

Combat Boat 90

A Combat Boat 90 from the 1st Marine Regiment at Berga, also known as the Amphibious Regiment. As seen during a visit to the beach, Årsta Havsbad, Hårsfjärden earlier in the week.

Torraka

Dead tree along the North allée at Årsta castle in Österhaninge. My first photo with the new 60 mm lens.

Yours if you have a hammer!

A one bedroom house. No windows. No kitchen, no bathroom, no running water, no heating, no nothing really, but there's a roof and that's a good thing, yes? But the estate does have a nice name, so welcome to Björkhagen in rural Österhaninge.

Legend has it...

...that five Russian soldiers were killed and buried here back in 1719. The Russian fleet had attacked and the soldiers were on their way to Årsta Castle, but got lost in the forest and were then killed by a group of locals. Another legend says that around the year 1600 a servant at the castle was ordered to murder his master by the Lady at Årsta Castle. He failed, and as punishment he was paved in behind the brick wall in the castle cellar. But what we do know for sure is that this is five boundary stones that once marked the five properties that met here just across the road from the little cottage that I will show you tomorrow. The castle in case you are wondering is a couple of kilometres down the Årsta Havsbadsvägen road. We also know that this is 12 photos taken with my new 60mm lens and then stitched together just to see if it works as it should.

Fishing from the jetty

The lower lake at the Rudan nature reserve on a moody November day. Looks like the weather has improved a bit. I bought another Canon lens the other day. At half price, a slightly used 60mm lens. Should be good for both macro shots and portraits. Might give it a try today.

November Mood

The lower lake at the Rudan nature reserve in Handen. Took a bike ride around the little lake yesterday afternoon. Spotted a couple of guys fishing from the jetties, other than that the place was deserted.

The Bridge

The Krigslida bridge as seen,(at least partly), on a typical November day. If you want to you can now sit down and enjoy the bridge from the new benches that I showed you in yesterdays post.

Two new benches

Who wouldn't wanna sit here and enjoy the view? As seen along the walkway between Krigslida and Västerhaninge earlier in the week.

Misty day

The gray November weather continues. Here are two photos from earlier in the week showing the new row houses at Lillgården in Tungelsta. Built by Turbinen, who won a local architectural award for the project a few weeks ago. The architect was Elisabet Elmertoft at Structor.

The joy of November

This has been the weather this week.

Stenberga

There are a few fine places at Hamnviken in Nynäshamn. This is one of them. This property is just across the bay from Villa Hamnvik in yesterdays post

Villa Hamnvik

A picturesque villa from the turn of the last century at Lövhagen in Nynäshamn, just meters from the bay. The owner wanted to build nine new houses on the hillside behind this property but the municipality but a stop to that idea. Second photo shows a newer house on the same property. Villa Hamnvik, (Hamnviken is the name of the bay), is today used as a conference centre under the name Tänkarstugan. Translated to English that means The Thinking House or something like that.

Rebuilding the tower

On a previous visit to Nynäshamn we decided to head over to the Trehörningen island and check out the view from the century old water tower. The driver, who will not be named, Hasse, used to work on the little island so it was a bit of a surprise to the rest of us that he couldn't find the way to the tower, despite breaking quite a few traffic rules while trying, but we figured that we could stop by on our next visit. A few hours later the tower was of course destroyed in a fire. Last time we were in the area all you could see was concrete, but now it looks like the repair work is progressing nicely. So hopefully we will be able to go there some time next year and last I heard Hasse was busy shopping for maps...

Big Red Lone Wolf

We had a seriously beautiful Autumn day yesterday. Blue sky, very calm, and warm, at least if you stayed in the sunshine. So together with a friend I went for a walk in Nynäshamn. We took the picturesque Strandvägen walk and made a pit stop at the Lövhagen cafe for coffee and a waffle. I took around 100 photos during the walk, although in reality it was more like 40 as I always shoot at least two snaps of every scene. It is one way traffic here and most people walk, run or bike so when I heard the sound of an Harley Davidson I turned around and snapped a few quick shots. The guy looked familiar but I couldn't place him so when I came back home I had a look in my flickr stream and realised that it was Christer and that he now rode another bike. You can see my previous blog post about him here.

Autumn

Autumn colors at the pet cemetery at Håga in Västerhaninge.

Högspänningsledning

Swedish word of the day. Högspänningsledning. Power transmission lines in Västerhaninge on a misty November day. The houses to the left are located at Prästgårdsängen, and if you are curious about how they really look, press here to find out.

That Old Tree

November is here. It will be dark and rainy and misty. This was the scene at the old tree a couple of hours ago.

The bookbinders cottage

Many years ago a bookbinder called Ragnar Numan worked in this cottage or"enkelstuga" at Fors in Haninge. His wife Sigrid Numan was a very talented photographer. Her ICA camera from 1926 has been donated to the local historical association and can be seen at Tingshuset in Västerhaninge. The couple lived in a nearby building called Gästgiveriet.