Light

The new year is here, once again.

The sun was shining for the celebration casting shadows on our bedroom wall. I like the golden tone of the light because of the wall paint. This scene occurs this time a year, when the sun is at its lowest. Of course only if the sun appears.

Do you know an object in the picture? It's a distaff, a tool used in spinning. 
Wikipedia tells this: They were usually self-made, and often grooms gave them to their brides as an engagement gift. Confessions of love, hearts and initials were carved into the wooden distaff surface. Some of the distaffs are really great, others are painfully clumsy. Carving them was one of the wedding customs of the Finnish peasant culture. The groom wanted to use it to show his hand skills to the bride. Professional carpenters also made distaffs to order.

On the west coast, where I come from, distaffs were used not only as bridal gifts but also as congratulatory gifts. We have collected distaffs from different places, I haven't received them as a gift of any kind:)

Today I made the third cake in the Christmas time, because we gave the previous cake as a New Year's gift to the friends. So another buttermilk cake, but this time baked according to a today's recipe. With this recipe the cake seems to be lighter coloured, see the Extra.