For ten months of the year, Svandammen is just a pond. A very small one at that, overgrown with reeds, nesting moorhens, coots and ducks in summer, and with a family of swans who live there year round. Svandammen is located in the park along the railway line and near the harbour area where I frequently walk, so I get a good look at in all seasons.

Over the last few weeks, since it's become so cold, it's been transformed into a classic winter scene - frozen, with skaters. They're here when the slanted winter light dazzles as it reflects off the snow, they're here when it's overcast and snowfall threatens. On the weekends, the skaters consist of family groups, teaching the little ones how to handle the ice. But at other times the ice is filled with young boys practicing their hockey moves, all at a blinding speed.

For those who like to skate over a decent distance, Svandammen is not the place for them. In very cold years, one can sometimes skate on the sea here, especially in the more protected bays. But many people journey up to Stockholm and skate on Lake Mälaren. On Sunday, up near Kairo, the skaters were out enjoying the afternoon sunshine and -15C temperatures.



That strange metal contraption you see out on the ice is actually a diving board and bathing platform, looking rather forlorn and abandoned this time of the year. It's always hard to believe that this is the same place one swims and sails in over the summer months.

The weekend was also the time to put "Operation Rescue Matilda" in place. We felt really bad for our friends, but fortunately Anders is a very focused and organised person and while poor Beth cried, he got on to the insurers right away and they went straight to work. First, a barge with pumping equipment was brought up alongside the semi-submerged boat:



If you look towards the centre of the picture, you'll see a diver. No, I'm not kidding. That poor man had to descend into the dark, icy, murky depths in order to check what damage lay below the waterline and to plug the hole with plastic sheeting and do the same with the skylight. They then set the pumps going:



Three hours and quite a few cubic metres of water and slush later, Matilda was raised and then it was time to inspect the damage inside. All of the mattresses and fabric components were totally ruined and had to be dumped, but the good news is that it is that the wood areas are still sound and will only need to be dried out and revarnished. And the engine works! Some miracle workers from the Beckholmen wharves managed to clean it out and get it going again. It was then time to load up the trailer, climbing over two boats with all of the items to be dumped.



At least it was a sunny day.

So at last, she is above the water where she belongs. And now they will get a chance to know every square centimetre of their new boat very intimately. I look at all the varnished surfaces and remember the painful time I had last spring applying seven layers of varnish that Matilda needs (and let's not forget the sanding in between each layer!) to the wooden areas of our own boat. She's a very high maintenance lady.

It has been reported in the media over the last couple of days that the Swedish chain Lindex have been forced to remove the wording on these posters to be displayed at bus stops and train stations. I looked at the posters, shrugged, thought it was an extremely silly ad campaign and moved on. But then, I think a lot of ad campaigns are silly and this seemed no worse than many others, so I was surprised that the powers that be at SL complained about it.

They decided that "the text will upset certain groups in society", though they didn't name these groups who would be upset. Other expat bloggers Curiosa and Mark have their own theory on this. Perhaps they ought to look at the pictures in the posters as well. They would no doubt offend the sort of "groups in society" who might choose to boycott Lindex, burn Swedish flags, bomb embassies etc. But leaving that particular little pandora's box alone for the moment, I wonder who they think will be upset by "We love boobs". Maybe the native English speakers in Sweden? Are we so numerous and powerful? Though you DO have to wonder why they chose an English slogan to appeal to a Swedish speaking population. What's wrong with "Vi älskar tuttar". Or does that smack of sniggering men's locker room talk?

There are a lot of English slogans used in Swedish advertising which always puzzles me. Don't you have enough of your own words that you feel the need to borrow ours? And while the Swedish advertisers argue that this slogan sounds "cute" in their ears, it just sounds silly to most native English speakers.

And a tip to the advertising boys at Lindex. When you choose to be funny in another language, you ought to check the meaning of the word before you set up the campaign!