Saturday, October 13, 2007

A great time at the Maritime Fall Fair!

Had a great time at the fall fair this year! Here are some highlights:

Once again, we got there on the last weekend of the fair - I hope one year to get there early, to see some of the cow/cattle judging. I've never seen a prize-winning cow before. :) I wonder what they look for? In the fairgrounds, I see some people shaving their cows, so they look their best, I assume that's one of the criteria.

As with last year, a very enjoyable highlight was Little Moe's Paws for Fun, a group (sponsored by a Truro kennel) of dogs who run agility courses. These are just ordinary pets, but what they can do is extraordinary! And it's always fun, because it's a live show - anything can happen (and often does!). There's even a dog who appeared on David Letterman's Stupid Pet tricks who does amazing things with frisbees. A really fun show!

The homemaking area is one of my favorites. You get such a feeling of how creative people can be - the variations in designs for classic hooked rugs and patchwork quilting are so inspiring! So inventive. If you're into those sorts of activities, I highly recommend going to a country fair and getting some great inspiration for new designs, and a feel for "what's possible". It was also fun to see the other categories of creativity judged at the fair, like woodworking and photography. The results of the baking and jam-making competitions are there too, but you can just look, you can't sample. :)

We didn't get a chance to watch the horse jumping/equestrian this year, but we did see a lot of the show jumping horses in their stalls. Holy crap, they're huge! They're SO much taller than me! Between them and the milking cows (I guess we left a little too early - found out after we left that milking happens at 5 pm) who were also enormous, I was very intimidated by the time we left! I think that if you weren't raised on a farm, it would be darn scary to walk in to a stall or barn with these animals. I know they're docile and all, but one false moove (oh man, what a typo - pardon the pun!) *ahem* move, that is, and you're squashed!

The petting zoo has a lot of smaller animals, like pigs, sheep, goats, baby cows, and a couple of tall llamas (or was it an alpaca? not really sure of the difference). Looked like the kids in there had a lot of fun.

Although we weren't able to experience ALL the fair had to offer, we did see and do a lot, and had a great time! The fair is held every year in Halifax, in Exhibition Park. If you're in the area, check it out, and learn a lot about farm life!

Maritime Fall Fair: http://www.maritimefallfair.com/

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