the human snow plough

we woke up saturday to the hustle and bustle of one very busy weekend. we needed to pack dogs and gather bags....no wait, make that pack bags and gathers dogs...for our roadtrip to ruffy in northern victoria. we were meeting up with ben's family at the ruffy produce store for the birthday lunch of about 5 people. there may have been more people turning a year older at that table than people there to help them celebrate! of course we brought our little maggie. rascal that she is. she hung her head out the window most of way, eyeballing kangaroos and attempting to smell the earth. that's home country for maggie, and i was worried she may want to quit our caulfield digs for the lush green grass of home...


lunch at the ruffy produce store was wonderful. this quaint cafe has all the homestyle trimmings, such as warm muffins, just-sealed jars of produce and the robust aroma of coffee. when you enter the store, the open fire dances playfully, inviting you to feel right at home. and you immediately do. our lunch consisted of two mixed platters made heavy with fresh pesto, crumbly cheese, peppery roquette and dark, juicy olives. there was also warm turkish bread and olive oil - and all local produce! for my mains i had polenta & spinach tart followed by the yummiest handmade chocolate brownie (still moist in the middle) and a strong espresso. divine!

after lunch it was back to bens sisters house at the foot of mount buller. there was a strong chill in the air, so we loaded the fire with wood and settled in for a quiet night. the next morning we woke and started layering our clothes. yep. em was going skiing! i have to admit right here and now that i am not much of a skiier. In fact, i have only been skiing once, at mount hotham, over 10 years ago. that particular experience consisted of me making it down the mountain only once before sliding my weary self through the pubs doors and straight up to the bar. here i remained for the rest of the trip. but not today. not this time! nope, i had ben there to keep me focused. and focused i was!

after a few quick pointers from, i began my first decent as the human snow plough (skis pointing inwards and knees bent) down a run called 'the family run'. anyone who might have seen me would have thought those ruby red cheeks were the result of fresh cold air and gentle exercise. they would have been wrong. it was more to do with mouth-drying mortification that 6 yr old kids were better skiiers than yours truly. i didn't let it rock me though. i picked myself up, time after time after time again and managed to get my turning under some form of control. just when i started to get confident i stopped suddenly on the mountain, took a quick look around to see if anyone had noticed my newly perfected skills and then horrifically realised that i was now going backwards - bridget jones style - and i was helpless to stop me!



needless to say today i have a VERY sore body. it hurts to walk, to nod and sometimes to swallow. not nice. imagine what might have happened if i had taken ben's advice and moved away from 'the family run' and tried the 'shakey knees' run instead?!? thanks anyway, but i think i might just stick to the snow ploughing for now :)