This was something I heard on a Swedish nature program last week. The presenter likened the emergence of Swedish spring to getting sauce out of a bottle. You shake it and there is nothing, nothing, nothing, then suddenly all of it comes out at once. Haven't we ALL had that happen to us at least once :)

Anyway, I thought it was a great analogy as I have been surprised in past years about how spring here literally explodes onto the scene. Last week, all trees looked lifeless and dead, then overnight (literally) new growth appeared and today they are starting to look so green and fresh!



This is the area just behind where the boat stands on land, so it is a lovely, peaceful environment to work around. I never get tired of seeing and hearing the woodland sounds.

Today it's back to normal work for me, while Lars-Göran continues with the boat. I won't be down to do anymore until Wednesday and hopefully my sore body will have recovered by then. Yesterday, we finished sanding the wooden rail and I put the first protective coat of varnish on it after we uncovered her. It feels so good to have the tarpaulins off as it was a bit like limbo dancing when negotiating my way around the struts and ropes holding it all up.



You can see the poodle supervisor on the left of the picture. I was commenting to Lars-Göran the other day about how many of our photos feature that white, fluffy presence in the background. Funny about that!

My friend Kay sent me this link to a newspaper article in Aftonbladet about a new Swedish Barbie doll being launched later this year (sorry the article is in Swedish). Apparently, the Italian fashion house Benetton and Mattel, the makers of Barbie, are joining forces to create a line of clothing for girls, called "Barbie Loves Benetton". According to their website, Benetton says the line will feature fashion from London, Paris, New York and Stockholm and a range of four special edition dolls. Now I can understand London, Paris and New York being touted as fashion capitals, but Stockholm??? Really? What about Milan?

What amused me most in the advertising blurb about the Stockholm Barbie was the presence of the polar-bear bag! Hmmm... wrong country. Despite many Australians believing that polar bears do in fact inhabit the streets of Stockholm, there are none in this country at all. That would be Norway, not Sweden (and then only off-shore at the Svalbard islands, not on mainland Norway).

Still, it wouldn't be the first time that an advertising company stretched the truth to make a point.

The other surprising thing was that the outfit is so colourful. People would not be seen dead wearing colour during the winter months. Everything is in shades of black (believe me, there are at least 40 different shades of black in this country) and grey. Poor Barbie would get the hairy eyeball if she trotted around Stockholm dressed like that.

Obviously Bentetton and Mattel have a lot to learn about what is lagom here.