Month: October 2025

The Markham Fair Second Annual Butter Carving Competition Sponsored by Gay Lea was held Thursday evening at 7:00 pm, in the Agricultural tent near the Livestock Arena.

Both my eldest daughter and I entered this year. She entered the very first year it was held, which was 2024, and had had a great time. So this year I came prepared with a handful of tools of my own that I favour when working in clay at home.

To our surprise we both placed within our respective divisions. My daughter achieved a second place finish in the children’s category, behind last year’s winner, and the oldest in the bunch.

I achieved a first place finish in the adult category, and also took home the best in show rosette, the first I have ever won, and I will proudly display it in my office studio space for all to see should they like to. We were both pleased as punch with our results. My piece was a fair diorama consisting of two hay bales with a jack-o’-lantern pitched on top, with leaves and a stem on top. Several skulls littered around the pumpkin, a set of vines with flowers/leaves, a Markham Fair billboard sign, a 181 years tombstone, and a field mouse poking out from behind the pumpkin & tombstone. I had some grasses, and faux flowers scattered about too. Butter is a tough medium to work in, so I have to give credit to all of the other sculptors whom entered, and brought their A games to the tables.

Part of my winnings was a gift bag that contained a hat, gloves, socks, two hockey pucks, two pens, a deck of playing cards, a tape measure, gift certificates for dairy products (fancy cheeses from closer inspection) and a lovely plaid fleece heavy pile throw blanket all in a carrier bag.

The children’s category was for twenty minutes (20 mins), the teen category had thirty minutes (30 mins), and the adults allowed forty five minutes (45 mins) to create something that was themed as either: Farm, Fair or animal. My daughter produced a lovely pumpkin in her allotted time.

All three first place finishers, and I think also the second, and third place finishers will have their butter carvings on display in the agri tent for the remainder of the fair, so until Sunday October 5th, 2025 if you’d care to head over and see them in person.

To all those whom asked me to enter the Royal Winter Fair butter carving contest I say… You know I just might have to think about it! Ha-ha.

Other than they do not owe me anything, it’s been a great run, and now I have to release you in to your eternal rest period. I am sad to see them go after they have been a part of more than 50% of my life. Through thick and thin they covered my feet, and kept my ankles sturdy as well. I will reclaim the laces, and send them off to their final resting place soon enough. It saddens me to see them go. They merely hold sentimental value, and are not a high enough quality items to send to a cobbler to breathe new life into. For that I shall mourn. Boo-hoo.

So today instead of chopping wood I will try on various pairs of new boots, mid tier or lower, in an attempt to replace those I have just lost to an exploding sole, shed stitching, weakened adhesive bonding, and old age. My WorkPro’s have come to the end of the road. I need steel toed boots so I don’t lop off a toe when swinging my axes around like a fool on the farm, and elsewhere. I don’t require top of the line boots because I only need to wear the new ones for 60-90 minutes 3-5 days a week (when paid work is slow, and it’s not winter, raining, storming out, or too hot!). That’s a long list of conditions I won’t work outdoors in, so these new boots don’t have to be the envy of every working joe who sees me in them, right?. Exactly. Comfortable and safe, offers protection, but no other bells and whistles. Sounds about right.

It’s Thursday today, so that means opening night of the fair, volunteer ride night, and our butter carving competition. I look forward to all of it. The radar says we are in for several more great sunny days, so that should be a boon for the Markham Fair 2025. See you all there! There’s something for everyone.

As soon as I fixed one part of my work boots my suspicion was that another part, or parts were near failure as well. So now I am facing a cascade of failing sole sections on both boots. Where I fixed the heel on one, now the toe has come loose. Flapping in the wind loose at that. I don’t have a way to see the front toe back to the boot along with the Barge contact cement I’m using, so this all might crumble after one more wearing.

Not to mention the front toe portion of the sole on the second boot has come apart, but not fallen off yet. I am hoping that a liberal coating of Barge and some clamps will let that set up and continue on for the rest of this season at least. I’m not a day labourer, so I’m only using these boots for 75-90 minutes 3 to 5 days out of any given week. I don’t think it’s worth me buying new work boots just to split wood. My next purchase would be toe caps to go on my wellington boots, and I’ll chop in those. At least my feet will be warm and dry as the seasons change. I’d prefer my twenty five year old boots stay with me, putting in a good few more years of service, but what can I do. I’m not a cobbler, and these boots aren’t classy enough to take to a professional.

I fear if this does not hold them the next stop for these lovely boots will be a land fill. I will hold on to the laces because they are still good quality items, and can be used elsewhere. I will be sad to see them go, should the soles pop off for good.

I could only complete 75 minutes of splitting today because that was when I noticed my right boot soles had almost peeled off entirely from the top tips down to where I had just fixed the heel joint. Although last time when the one heel went away I kept on chopping for about 40 minutes, but I was tired, and sore already, so I decided going home to attempt yet another repair was the way to go.

I am really starting to see some significant movement through wood pile Two, so I’m a little bummed I may have to stop and wait for this contact cement to cure over the next 24 hours. And failing this repair, waiting on toe caps to arrive in the mail. I looked at some boots on line but they’ve all gone up to nearly $300.00 and then some. Seems a little rich for my blood since I’m only chopping to get exercise, and stay fit.

We went climbing last night so both elbows were singing today. And my grip was a tad weak due to heavy use yesterday. No matter. The Markham Fair opens tomorrow, so I’ll get my steps in wandering around the grounds for the better part of four days. Not much for shoulders, back, and my core but I’ll still be fairly active! Ha.

I don’t know why I’m so attached to these damn boots, except that I’ve had them since 1999, and I’ve worn them at every factory job, land scaping job, tree service job that I’ve ever had. Put a whole lot of miles under my heels walking the boulevards of Brampton with BP Landscaping cutting grass, weed eating, and picking up garbage ten hours a day, multiple years in a row. Not that I am nostalgic for how hot, and hard that work was, but it’s core memories I have where these boots were present, and accounted for.

Single digit temperatures this morning, no surprise there as we’ve just entered the month of October. I do not hold much hope for a random uptick in November where it stays warm & sunny, when it should be grey, cold, dreary, and sort of sad looking outside. May very well be a long hard winter this year. But, weather’s gotten all fucky so who knows what will come out way, predictions are harder than ever it seems.

A toast! To hard work accomplished, and trusty boots that made all of that work possible. Salut!