Acton Fall Fair

This Fall my co-worker Lindsey invited me to go to her hometown, Acton, for its annual fall fair. Put on annually by the Acton Agricultural Society since 1913, this year it was celebrating its 100^th anniversary. Nicknamed “The Best Little Fair in Ontario” how could I resist?

We headed out after work one Friday and Lindsey’s Mom met us at the Go Station in Acton. Friday night we took in some of the horse pull competition. As it was my first time to witness this, I found it quite interesting....if only I had dressed properly. It was unseasonally cold and I was wearing capri pants. I stuck it out as long as I could, but man it was cold. We headed back to Lindsey’s house, proceeded to break out some drinks, and we chatted with her Mom until midnight. Lots of girl talk and lots of laughter.

The next day, we headed back to the fair. It the light of day, I suddenly realized how much it reminded me of the Dundas Plowing Match. We sat and watched the cow show, which we both enjoyed. There were no Ayrshires to be seen, but a cow show is a cow show. I grew up going to them every year so it was still familiar territory to me. What was not was the horse show. I was surprised at the number of young girls properly outfitted in traditional riding gear that competed that day. Having ridden herself, Lindsey spent a lot of time explaining all the intricacies involved. My Dad would have loved it. A self proclaimed horse lover, he never did get a horse after expressing many times over the years that he wanted one. Mom had put her put down – the cows were enough! What is ironic is that Mom is also a horse lover at heart having grown up with them. Oh well, never say never.....except when Mom says never. Hehe.

My favourite part of these small fairs is always the craft display. At Old Home Week on the Island, I always looked forward to the Women’s Institute exhibit. Acton had a very respectable exhibit of its own. There were lovely paintings, various crafts, baking competition, as well as an antiques competition. I only saw one hooked rug, but what did catch my eye were some collages. I hadn’t done this sine my university days, and this one in particular caught my eye:  



We had some greasy food, drank a slushie, and I won (well, truth be told, I was given) a small Papa Smurf teddy bear. But I never did have a funnel cake. Next time.



Mamma Mia

This week is the first week I’ve had a bit of spare time in over a month. Before heading home for the holidays, I’ve decided to try and get caught up with some blogging. So much to write but so little free time it seems.

Mom came for her bi-annual trip in October. There was a lot of shopping, visiting with friends and family, and lots of fun outings. This time around, I was also successful in her not having to cook one meal while she was here!
Mom was here for Thanksgiving this year and we ended up having three Thanksgiving dinners [insert Neater’s apology to the rest of the family left in Greenwich]. The first was with Patty and Doug Baldwin. The second was with Bud and Claire Rossiter. The third was back to the Baldwin residence for leftovers and a repeat Thanksgiving meal. It was at the third Thanksgiving meal that Doug pulled both his hamstring muscles and scared the crap out of all of us, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. Never a dull moment when Mama comes to town! What can I say, when our energy connects bizarre things happen.

One of the first things on the agenda is always having a spa night with my BFF Dee. We had manis and pedis and a nice Greek meal on the Danforth. This time around, I convinced Mom to try some nail art. The owner of the spa gave me complimentary nail art on my birthday last year and I was dubious as well never having it done before. But I loved it – and so did Mom. Twinkle toes Mama:

By pure coincidence, my Montreal cousin Dan Rossiter came to Toronto with his family for the weekend to see Les Mis while Mom was here. We got together at a pub for supper after their matinee. It was great to have some time with them in addition to our yearly summer visits. Julie is now in her first year at McGill and Kelly is busy as a beaver with her studies and extracurricular activities. They have grown into such beautiful and accomplished young women. And Danny continues to look more and more like my father with every passing year.

There were some great exhibits on at the AGO while Mom was here. The first was “David Bowie is Here”. As I predicted, the coolest part of the exhibit were his stage costumes on display. Not only were they visually appealing, but it was also intriguing to read about Bowie’s memories attached to the various garments. The other exhibit we went to was “Ai Weiwei: According to What?” I really didn’t know much about Weiwei before going with the exception that he took part in designing the bird’s nest (National) stadium for the Beijing Olympics. I was really intrigued by this exhibit and his story. Known for his political activism as well as an artist, one cannot be removed from the other in looking at his work.

I’ve been to the AGO many times now. Just when I think I know my way around the building, I find another unexplored corner. This time around, it was Frank Gehry's stairs in the south wing. It provided us with beautiful views of the downtown core and my favorite – the OCAD building.

Finally it was time for us to go to Les Mis at the Princess of Wales Theatre. I’ve been looking forward to this for twenty years. Before going, we watched the 1980s version of Les Mis starring Liam Neeson so as to help Mom with the story line. In attending live theatre though, it is always the music that is the huge treat. And it did not disappoint. On the contrary, it was everything I had hoped for.  

Mom’s visit to Toronto would also not be complete without a dinner out with my dear friend Brian. He choose a restaurant that I wasn’t familiar with – all I knew is that it was smack downtown past Union Station. What we hadn’t planned or thought of was that the Leafs were playing in that city that night and the game was a stone’s throw away. The crowds and the rain were absolutely crazy. But the dinner and company was well worth it. We had a lot of laughs and Brian surprised us at the end of the evening with new scarves.

Is it 2014 yet - Spring of 2014 that is? I’m already anticipating Mom’s next trip...