I was in trouble this morning. The dog groomer gave me a cranky look, saying I was super late for the dogs’ appointment with her. I blamed the fog and a big grader (Fi thought it was a giant cheese grater) we were stuck behind. When we returned to pick the girls up at around 11, she was much happier and actually smiled. Hopefully, I’m forgiven because she did a wonderful job, making the girls look bright and fluffy.

We dropped them off with Chris, who was going to look after them for tonight while we went into Stockholm for a double farewell dinner. Fi is off home in the early hours of tomorrow while Jason is heading to the almost frozen north for a bit of icy exploration.
Speaking of getting into trouble, Fi told us a story of how, when she was about 16 at high school, she was threatened with getting the cane. She was walking around the school, smiling and singing The Candyman when a rather gruff and unhappy teacher told her off, vowing to whack her with a stick unless she stopped being so cheerful.
Later in the day, the teacher, having calmed down a bit, searched the school, looking for her. When he spotted her, he called her over: “Hey, Candyman Girl! Yeah, you. Sorry about earlier. I was a bit unnecessary. Of course I wouldn’t whack you with a stick.“
There was to be no caning today, either. Rather, the plan was to visit a museum then eat at the Viking restaurant, Aifur, on Gamla Stan.
Fi chose the Abba Museum so she, Mirinda and, eventually, Jason explored it for two hours while I went next door to Liljevalchs where they are preparing for the Spring Salon due to start next month. All reports indicate that the Abba Museum was great fun. Liljevalchs was not exactly fun and did not provide anything like two hours of viewing pleasure.
In fact, the only part of the gallery open was the newer bit out the back. The exhibition was Go as you please – Ann-Sofia Back 1998-2018. Obviously, I’d never heard of Ann-Sofia and was keen to see her work. This retrospective featured a lot of her designs including a long line of coffins containing outfits without the bodies, a rather visually arresting video of catwalk models shown backwards and a room of naked mannequins with full size photographs of models wearing her clothes.
It was all a bit odd and reminded me of the haute couture exhibition I saw with Lauren in 2023. Though the two exhibitions were wildly different.

While I have little interest in fashion of any kind, I do appreciate glimpsing a world I don’t know about. Or understand. I try to form no opinions until I’ve examined all parts. It’s what I believe art should be: appreciated for what it is rather than instantly mocked for being different.
Trying to understand what other people are saying is important to me. And, while Ann-Sofia’s designs at first seemed beyond my ken, I feel like I’ve glanced into a new artist’s creative process.
Because there wasn’t two hours worth of art to see, I popped into a very pleasant café, next to the Abba Museum, to wait for the others to finish singing and dancing. I didn’t really need anything to eat having had lunch at Ankaret earlier and leaving room for dinner, but a latte then a beer were very welcome in the warmth.
The others enjoyed their stroll through the pop world of days gone by and eventually joined me. We walked down to the ferry for the short float across to Gamla Stan.
“The sea was angry that day, my friends – like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli.” was not how it was at all. In fact, it was smooth as silk and all too short. Unlike dinner, which was a riotous assembly of yelling, yahooing and a general melee of people from many nations.

Everyone thought I was Odin. Even our serving wench.
The food was delicious as was the drink. Though I found the mead a bit to sweet for my delicate tastebuds. The IPA, however, was delightfully citrus. And the sneaky rum I had while waiting for a group of French people to be announced and, subsequently, take their seats, was delicious.
Actually, the whole night was brilliant. It’s a great place to go. Though, if you can avoid going with the woman from Florida near us, I’d advise you to.
There were two of them. He was pretty quiet but that was because she didn’t stop talking. The people with them, from New Mexico, sat opposite and did not seem to enjoy themselves. In particular, the man. I have rarely seen such a stony face. It was like he was determined to show the woman from Florida she was not as pleasant as she thought she was. Her dulcet tones were lost on him. If he’d been a true Viking, she’d not have survived the meal.
On our other side was a couple from Brazil via Dubai and their two-year-old who was a constant source of entertainment. Now they enjoyed the restaurant. Very much.
Having bashed the table and eaten a lot of animals, we eventually staggered back into the world above ground and headed for the tunnelbana then a train home, leaving Fi and Jason with hugs, kisses and farewell tears.
Our house was sadly silent with the absence of dogs and sister.

This photo makes the place look a bit empty. It wasn’t. At all.