Estonian butter knives are the best. Swedish butter knives (not pictured) are better for spreading butter than ordinary table knives, but they’re thin and the blades are small, so they’re not very comfortable to use. We somehow manage to wear ours out, so several of them are now barely more than flat sticks.

I’ve been planning to buy more butter knives of the well-designed Estonian kind when we go to Estonia. I was already planning on it last summer but never found the time. Oh well, we’ll make do with pointy sticks for another year. But yesterday at the crafts fair I saw a whole huge stand of wooden utensils, including butter knives with sturdy, rounded handles – and the lovely smell of juniper wood.

At first I thought that maybe some Swedish firm had copied the superior Estonian design, but then I saw the Estonian brand name. No need to wait until summer – the knives have come to me.

I bought several. And then sniffed at them for a good while before packing them away in my bag.