I'm going to start straight off and state that I really don't think there is anything eco about holidaying.  But I didn't half need a break!

I once read that you should build a life from which you don't need a holiday - sage advice - but not necessarily something that the majority can do.  Whilst I probably feel less inclined than most to depart from normal life (as normal life for me is pretty enjoyable!) it is nice, once in a while, to leave the distractions behind and find a new corner to explore.

Flying is ruled out immediately - not just on account of the environmental impact, but also because there are too many of us to make it feasible!  And although a foreign jaunt is appealing, we are lacking in passports and the means to make it happen comfortably.  The weather has been so fine this year though, that actually staying on home turf is not a bad option!

The UK has plenty of unchartered territory for us, and with vaguely predictable weather, making an active choice to stay in the country was perfectly viable.  The first choice, Mull, however was ruled out last minute due to rain and low temperatures, and instead we picked Norfolk, somewhere we had never ventured.

I managed to escape for an hour or so yesterday and freed some time to walk to a meeting, something that sadly hasn't been so possible lately.

When I walk anywhere, I tend to do so with the eye of a forager!  I noted about myself some time ago that my eyes are constantly darting from ground to sky and scanning around for edibles.  I don't know whether this is something that's innate, a hark back to when food was scarce, or whether it's something learnt by means of having a slightly food obsessed nature!

This time of year is excellent for the forager because it's the time when the fruit trees are in blossom.  Short of having actual apples dangling from the branches, it makes easy work of spotting potential bounties realised in the autumn.  Cherries and plum relatives (plums themselves, but also gages and blackthorns for sloes) are currently blossoming here; apples and pears won't be too far behind now.  I made a mental of note of where to return later in the year!

This time of year I find incredibly frustrating.  When you're a food grower, which innately we all are (somewhere underneath), it's right about now that there is almost nothing that can be planted.  January and February are not only too cold but there's too little light and the ground is usually frozen like stone, certainly too hard to push in seeds.  Even if you catch the window of opportunity, there are desperate teams of birds and mice who will swoop in and demolish them the moment your back's turned!.