12th Day of Christmas...Epiphany!

We replaced the Christmas tree with a plant that is still in need of a great pot.
The cats consider it to be an awesome salad just for them; they can be seen nibbling on the leaves all the time.
Tate apparently nibbled a bit too enthusiastically.
At least he was honest enough to stay and take the blame for his mishap.

As is my tradition (after learning about it during my years in Houston) a Kings Cake was acquired for ushering in the season of Epiphany.
I have had quite a challenge finding the cake here in SLC; usually one can find one around Fat Tuesday but not at the beginning of the season.
One year Bernie had to ship me a couple from South Carolina; the bill was extravagant but that bakery did amazing things with the Kings Cake concept.
Turns out the our local Mexican grocery store carries a Mexican version of Kings Cake!

Instead of heavy icing with the traditional purple, green and yellow sprinkles, this version used colored fruit strips for the decoration.
Now in case you don't know, here is the deal with Kings Cakes:
A small baby (A Christ Child) is baked into the cake and whoever gets the slice with the baby must provide a Kings Cake for the next gathering.
Since there are Kings Cakes EVERYWHERE in the south (like where you get your oil changed, teeth cleaned, dry cleaning done...) you are quite likely to be "stuck" with a baby if you aren't careful.
It is all in fun and no one gets too up tight about bringing a new cake to a business establishment but socially it is a chance to show off  your baking skills if you get the babe.
Well, we sure didn't need a full cake to eat for just the two of us so I decided to go next door and gift half the cake to my next door neighbors; the neighbors being a lovely couple, his visiting mother from France and their two young daughters (ages 4 and 3...and a baby boy on the way this months!)
His mother was delighted to see a Kings Cake as France also participates in the custom.
The little girls were so excited to get a piece of cake and we made sure that the oldest girl got the baby!
Then...a miracle.
A second baby was found by the younger daughter!
Who knew Jesus had a twin?
Then a third baby was found...
Maybe the hidden baby deal is played differently in Mexico?
We munched and got caught up, then I came home.
A bit later I sliced another slice for myself and lo and behold...a fourth baby appeared.
Apparently I had gotten a fertility treatment version of Kings Cake!

Now back to ordinary days.
A light dusting of snow during the near zero degree temperature night had me rushing outside this morning to see if I could find plate snowflakes.
In case you are interested...HERE is a guide to snowflake shapes and the temperatures at which they form.
The six sided "plates" are about 1/16 of an inch big.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regular snowflakes appear huge next to them.

See the tiny plates surrounding the arms of a broken flake?

 

 

Still shooting with my 18-55mm "kit" lens with an added 10x magnifier lens screwed in front.
Hoping to get a 60mm lens soon...
And more snow.