Sinterklaas

Yesterday was "Tree o' Clock" day. I planted fifty hawthorns with the children from our nature club as part of a BBC initiative to get into the Guinness Book of Records for planting the most trees in an hour across the whole UK. We could have planted a hundred in the time, but the kids actually preferred rolling in the mud.

In this family we celebrate anything and everything; we even do half-birthdays. Today we celebrated the feast of St Nicholas or Sinterklaas. This is because Hanna's was brought up in the Hague when she was little, before moving to Chicago. She still speaks some Nederlands, but only in private. Her sister Katy still lives in Amsterdam.

I won't fill the space here by giving you a brief history of Sinterclaas because there's a really good website at http://www.stnicholascentre.org/ with lots of things for grown-ups as well as children. In Holland, St Nicholaas arrives from Spain by boat, with his white horse and his Moorish servant Black Pete. They give sweets to all the children who put out a sack and a shoe for him. It's a big festival in many parts of Europe with special recipes, songs and traditions.

Last night we didn't tell Dan that anything was happening so he stayed in bed until well after ten before discovering that St Nick had been to see him.

Yesterday, Hanna and I went to Cambridge with our friend Eileen to visit our favourite street which has its own festival. We marched the length of Mill Road, poking around in ethnic food shops, bicycle shops, antique dealers and cafes. We had a lovely Turkish lunch and came home with a selection of Turkish and Korean snacks.

There were street entertainers on every corner and free samples of food and drink at every turn. Everyone was so friendly and we always learn something new. It's like being an arm chair traveller, sampling the world's food and culture for the price of a ticket on the Park and Ride. Be there next year, or find your own Mill Road.

Next week-end we might go up to Stamford for their Christmas Market. It's a picturesque stone town, just over the border in Lincolnshire.