Grand Duke Nichalas Nikolaevich of Russia dressed as an 17th century infantry officer (1903)

Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia dressed as a 17th century Streletz infantry regiment  officer for the Imperial costume ball in the Winter Palace in February 1903. The original photo - here shown with my colorization - is in the National Museum of Denmark archive. 

"Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (Russian: Николай Николаевич Романов (младший – the younger); 18 November 1856 – 5 January 1929) was a Russian general in World War I (1914–1918). A grandson of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, he was commander in chief of the Russian Imperial Army units on the main front in the first year of the war. He proved incompetent in strategy, tactics, logistics and coordination with the government.^[3] The tsar took over his commands, He later was a successful commander-in-chief in the Caucasus region. --

On 8 August 1922, Nicholas was proclaimed as the emperor of all the Russias by the Zemsky Sobor of the Amur krai /Priamursk region in the Far East by White Army general Mikhail Diterikhs. Nicholas was already living abroad and consequently was not present. Two months later the Priamursk region fell to the Bolsheviks. --

After a stay in Genoa as a guest of his brother-in-law, Victor Emmanuel III, King of Italy, Nicholas and his wife took up residence in a small chateau at Choigny, 20 miles outside of Paris. He was under the protection of the French secret police as well as by a small number of faithful Cossack retainers.

He became the symbolic figurehead of an anti-Soviet Russian monarchist movement, after assuming on 16 November 1924 the supreme command of all Russian forces in exile and thus of the Russian All-Military Union, which had been founded in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes by Gen Pyotr Wrangel two months prior.^[16] The monarchists made plans to send agents into Russia. Conversely a top priority of the Soviet secret police was to penetrate this monarchist organization and to kidnap Nicholas. They were successful in the former, infiltrating the group with spies. (OGPU later lured the anti-Bolshevik British master spy Sidney Reilly back to the Soviet Union (1925) where he was killed.) They did not succeed however, in kidnapping Nicholas. As late as June 1927, the monarchists were able to set off a bomb at the Lubyanka Prison in Moscow.

Grand Duke Nicholas died on 5 January 1929 of natural causes on the French Riviera, where he had gone to escape the rigors of winter. He was originally buried in the church of St. Michael the Archangel Church in Cannes, France. In 2014 Nicholas Romanov, Prince of Russia (1922–2014) and Prince Dimitri Romanov (1926-2016) requested the transfer of his remains. The bodies of Nicholas Nikolaevich and his wife were re-buried in Moscow at the World War I memorial military cemetery in May 2015. (Wikipedia)

The Erkylä manor in Finland in winter (ca.1900 - 1911)

The Erkylä manor in Hausjärvi, Finland, in an early 20th century photo. The main manor building, designed by Finnish architect A.E. Granstedt, was built in 1847. My colorization of a picture in the Board of Antiquities of Finland archive at Finna.fi. The photographer is unknown.

Our indoor Christmas tree

The indoor Christmas tree

Our Christmas tree

Our Christmas tree late this afternoon: 

The delight of speed (1936)

The delight of speed in the summer of 1936 in Helsinki. The speedboat is an Ares A-55. Photographer Pietinen´s image - here shown with my colorization - is in the Finnish Board of Antiquities archive on Finna.fi.

Waiting for customers

Waiting for customers at the Väla shopping center in Helsingborg: 

Napoli Tarantella

Napoli Tarantella. My colorization of Giorgio Sommer´s (1834 - 1914) photo from ca. 1870. The original is in the Metropolitan Museum archive.

Cloud formation

Nice clouds last night right after sunset: 

Our Christmas tree again brightens up the coming dark December days ... :-)

Our Christmas tree is now installed to brighten up the coming December days: 

"The fashion hat 1915"

"The autumn hat 1915". The picture was published in a fashion magazine the same year. My colorization of a photo in the Swedish Digital Museum archive (VM17659:02).

Portrait of Royal Swedish Air Force captain Paulus af Uhr (1927)

Bernhard Jernberg´s 1927 portrait of captain (later major general) Paulus af Uhr of the newly founded Royal Swedish Air Force - here processed and colorized by me - is in the Swedish Digital Museum archive (FMF.002492). Paulus af Uhr was also a prominent athlete. He participated in the Stockholm Olympic games in 1912 and held the Swedish high jump record, 188 cm, in 1914 - 1917.

The first motorcycle in the village

The first motorcycle in the village of Svinhult. Shopkeeper Edvin Karlsson showing his new Indian to his friends in the late 1910s (prob.). The original photo by August Christian Hultgren - here processed and colorized by me - is in the Swedish Digital Museum archive (OM.H.001828).

The view from my balcony at 3.45 PM

This was the view from my balcony at 03.45 PM today. 

Poles for drying fishing nets in Viken

Poles for drying fishing nets in the village of Viken in Skåne. 

The classic view of Mölle and Öresund

Late yesterday afternoon I visited Kullaberg and shot this 

image of the seaside resort Mölle and Öresund.

Portrait of shipowner Gustaf Erikson (1872 - 1947)

Portrait of Gustaf Erikson (1872 - 1947), the owner of the last fleet of windjammers. My editing and colorization of a photo in the Maritime Museum archive in Stockholm (Fo220180). In 1935 Erikson´s fleet reached the peak in the number of vessels, among them these legendary deep-sea sailing vessels:

Moshulu
Passat
Lawhill
Olivebank
Herzogin Cecilie
Pamir
Pommern
Viking
Archibald Russel
L´Avenir
Ponape
Winterhude
Killoran
Grace Harwar

"Gustaf Adolf Mauritz Erikson (1872, Lemland – 1947) was a ship-owner from Mariehamn, in the Åland islands (Finland). He was famous for the fleet of windjammers he operated to the end of his life, mainly on the grain trade from Australia to Europe.
Erikson was involved in sailing for virtually his entire life. He went to sea at age 9, was commanding a sailing vessel in the North Sea trade by age 19, and was master of a number of square-rigged vessels prior to becoming an owner.[1]
His ships were bought cheaply as most shipping companies switched to steam ships about the turn of the century; Erikson would often acquire ships at shipbreakers prices.[1] In the early 1920s there was still some competition for the windjammers sold – the shipping company F. Laeisz even ordered new sailing ships in the 1920s – but in the 1930s Erikson owned a significant share of the operational windjammers of the world. In March 1935, he purchased Moshulu, "one of the finest steel barques afloat", for only $12,000.[2]
By the late 1930s, the South Australian grain trade was virtually the only profitable use for windjammers, and then only if the ship owner minimized costs as much as possible. Erikson supplied his ships adequately with crew and supplies as these were necessary for his ships to sail quickly and efficiently, but supplied neither more crew nor equipment than was necessary. Erikson's large four-masted barques would routinely sail on voyages of 30,000 nautical miles (56,000 km) with less than 30 crew.[3]
A young Eric Newby sailed to Australia on Moshulu in 1938–1939, as part of the South Australian grain trade. At the time she was owned by Erikson and part of the last "great fleet of sailing ships". Newby chronicled his trip in The Last Grain Race and Learning the Ropes, where he wrote that Erikson was both respected and reviled by the crew, who knew him only as "Ploddy Gustav". Of the 13 ships which took part in the 1939 grain race, 10 were Erikson ships." (Wikipedia)

Four-masted barque Olivebank off New Zealand in 1926

The Åland Islands (Finland) shipowner Gustaf Erikson´s four-masted barque Olivebank photographed off Bluff Harbour (New Zealand) in 1926. The original picture by E. A. Phillips - here with my processing and colorization - is in the Maritime Museum archive in Stockholm (Fo33756). The Olivebank run into a mine in the North Sea and was destroyed on September 8, 1939. It was built by Mackie & Thompson, Glasgow, in 1892.

A windy day in Viken

Today it was a windy afternoon in Viken. 

October sunset

October sunset in Hittarp.

Arild view

Arild is one of my favourite locations in my neighbourhood. Here is 

the view towards the east two days ago: 

The 12m yacht Princess Svanevit racing in 1932

The 12m yacht Princess Svanevit participating in a race in the bay of Kanholm (Stockholm archipelago) on June 19, 1932. The photo - here with my processing and colorization - by Oscar Norberg is in the Maritime museum archive in Stockholm.

The Royal Swedish Navy armored cruiser Fylgia saluting (1928)

The armored cruiser Fylgia saluting the German Navy while visiting Kiel on May 22, 1928. The original picture - here processed and colorized by me - is in the archive of the Maritime Museum in Stockholm (Fo229116).

HMS Fylgia was an armored cruiser of the Swedish Navy. Launched in 1905, the ship was in service until 1953. The cruiser was primarily used as a training ship for naval cadets. (Wiki)

Late September roses

Late September roses in the Krapperup castle garden:

HMY Britannia and Lulworth racing in the 1930s

King George V:s legendary yacht HMY Britannia competing with another famous racer, 

 Lulworth, in the late 1920s (prob.). 

My editing and colorization of a Berlingske Tidende photograph in the M/S Maritime Museum of Denmark archive. 

"His Majesty's Yacht Britannia was a racing yacht built in 1893 for RYS Commodore Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. She served both himself and his son King George V, with a long racing career." ---
"Despite a lull in big yacht racing when the new linear rating rule came into effect in 1897, Britannia served as a trial horse for Sir Thomas Lipton's first America's Cup challenger Shamrock, and later passed on to several owners in a cruising trim with raised bulwarks. In 1920,[1] King George V triggered the revival of the "Big class" by announcing that he would refit Britannia for racing. Although Britannia was the oldest yacht in the circuit, regular updates to her rig kept her a most successful racer throughout the 1920s. In 1931, she was converted to the J class with a bermuda rig, but despite the modifications, her performance to windward declined dramatically. Her last race was at Cowes in 1935. During her racing career she had won 231 races and took another 129 flags." (Wikipedia)

The racing yacht Lulworth was built in Southampton in 1920:

"The boat's name comes from Lulworth Castle, which belonged to her second owner, Herbert Weld, whose grandfather was a charter-member of the Royal Yacht Squadron.[1] The Lulworth (1920) was built by the White Brothers' Yard for Richard H. Lee, who wanted a racing boat to compete in the premier yachting league in Europe: the British "Big Class".Shortages in the supply of premium spruce after World War I meant that Lulworth's original lower-mast was made of steel instead of wood. This constraint handicapped Lulworth greatly, leaving her trailing older, more famous Big Class racers like Thomas Benjamin Frederick Davis's Herreshoff-designed schooner Westward (1910), HMY Britannia I (1893) and Sir Thomas J. Lipton's Fife-designed 23mR Shamrock (1908).Her gaff-rigged sail plan was updated several times to no avail, until America's Cup naval architect Charles Ernest Nicholson redesigned the rig with a wooden lower-mast and adjusted the keel balance. By 1924, Lulworth's flaws were corrected and she became an accomplished racer in all subsequent seasons of the Big Class: from 1920 to 1930, she took part in 258 regattas, taking 59 first places, 47 of which were after 1924." (Wikipedia)

Treasures of the forest - Funnel chanterelles

Some of our September favourites - tasty Funnel chenterelles ... :-)

The German tugboat Karl in the early 1960s

The port of Hamburg tugboat Karl in action, probably in the early 1960s. My colorization of an image in the M/S Maritime Museum of Denmark archive. The museum does not give a date, but the ship in the background seems to indicate that the photo by an unknown photographer was taken in the early 1960s. The Hamburg shipyard Johannes Ölkers built the ship in the early 1960s for the

 P & A shipping company. 

Three legendary yachts in the Solent

Three legendary yachts competing during the Cowes week on August 28, 1934. In the middle HMY Britannia, king George V:s yacht, on the left Shamrock V and on the right Westward. Of the three only Shamrock is preserved.

The photo by NP - here with my colorization - is in the archive of M/S Maritime Museum

 of Denmark in Elsinore. 

A wedding cortege in Finland in 1913

On the way to church in 1913. A traditional wedding cortege in the Swedish speaking area of Ostrobothnia in Finland. My colorization of a photo by Gösta Carlsson. The original is in the Svenska Litteratursällskapet archive.

Finnish construction workers (ab. 1920)

Construction workers in Finland (Ostrobothnia) posing in photographer Erik Hägglund´s studio probably about 1920. The man on the right is Johan Paulin from Vörå, who had returned from America, where he had worked as a navvy for six years. The hat is from his time in the U.S.

The original picture - here shown with my processing and partial colorization - is in the Svenska Litteratursällskapet archive in Helsinki.

A colourful landing area

This butterfly chose a colourful place for a moment´s rest: 

The 2019 Sofiero garden festival

Here are my pictures from the 2019 Sofiero garden festival: