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Monday, March 8, 2010

Ah Mondays..

Smells Like Home Continued...

Yesterday I mentioned I was making maple baked beans well 3 meals later they are all gone. They were not my best beans yet or my worst. It's been 3 years now that I have been trying to find the perfect baked bean recipe. Do you have a favorite? If so please share...

Toronto Botanical Garden

Thanks to my awesome friend Debra and her pint size companion F Monster; the C Monster and me got to hang out in The Children Center at the Toronto Botanical Garden and drop in on a Sprout Club day.


Every Monday (except next week due to March Brake) the Toronto Botanical Garden has a free drop in Story Time in their library at 11am. Their story teller John is so amazing with the kids definitely worth to check out. C Monster quite enjoyed it today; however as always his short attention span for anything that demands him to sit down caused him to wander off after 2 stories.

They also have a Sprout Club for kids 0-3 on Monday mornings at 10am; cost is 55$ and registration is required due to limited spaces. We arrived half way threw their class but from what I saw C Monster would definitely like this. The Children Center were the Sprout Club is an Attachment Parenting dream; lots of nature themed activities; crafts; nature items to play with; dirt play; sand play; and on and on... I think I might sign him up for the May session.

After the story time in the Library John (on of Debra's friends) opened up the Children Center for the F and C Monster to play; they had so much fun.

Thank you Debra and John for a great time.

One of the many reason I love of husband....

We compliment each other in many ways...one of these is that we both think it's important to keep things simple when it comes to home life. We do a lot of baking as we try to limit the package goods that we purchase - I make muffins, scones, biscuits, deserts and so on; however the only bread I have patience to make is in the bread machine. Geoff on the other hand loves making both bread and crackers the old fashion way. Geoff for every time I have complained that the kitchen exploded after a baking adventure by you - remember I love you and the fact you make bread the way it was always meant to be.

Sprig Toys

Most of you know that I love Sprig Toys, toys manufactured in Canada made from a combination of reclaimed wood and recycled plastic. This great company recently got bought out by Wham-O and the rumor mill has it that they will be closing their Canadian plant and moving the operations to Mexico - reason to cut down on cost. Just another company that fell casualty to the big corporations - once the toys are label made in Mexico I will no longer purchasing them for the C Monster. We have nothing against purchasing toys made outside of Canada; however we do not purchase any toys made in countries that do not treat their workers ethically.

Everyday Something New


I just realized today that C Monster can fully complete this puzzle all by himself. He has had this puzzle since his first birthday and used to put the pieces in all mixed up; then he started matching a few of the obvious ones. Today he got them all - when he got to the cat he looked at it brought beside the fish and said "Ummm No" then put it beside the cat. How I love you C Monster.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sprig hired out a factory to make toys, I believe they are in Midland Ontario - it still operates to this day, not closed down as you say. On a similar note, why would you say that factories in Mexico don't treat their employees ethically? That seems to be an unfair statement and seemingly racist, or perhaps just ignorant to the meaning of the word.

Pierrette said...

I received information from a source that will remain un-named as they requested; that the plant in Canada will be closing to move the operations to Mexico. This is being done so that the toys can be offered at a lower cost. (My source came from a store that sells the toys and will no longer be selling them do to the move in manufacturing)

I am not racist and take great offend to that - anyone who knows me personally knows that. I also do not appreciate Anonymous comments that are that bold - please identify yourself.

We do not purchase products from companies that do not pay fair wages to their employees. We also do not purchase toys made in countries that have high amounts of recalls. We also do not purchase food from countries that do not have similar standard or higher in the food industry then Canada. One exception to all of the above is if the product is certified Fair Trade.

Their is tones of information on-line in-regards to unfair wages of factory workers in Mexico.

When talking about ethical consumerism many aspect are kept in mind including and not limited to the wages that employees are paid.

So yes I do know what the word ethical means.

No I am not racist.

and I did not say the Ontario plant was closed but said it will be closing. (if I am wrong on that well that is great for Sprig, the Toy Industry, and Ontario Jobs)

Geoffrey Wiseman said...

For instance:
http://www.amnesty.ca/blog2.php?blog=mexico_hr

In this case, it's unfortunate that the sprig toys which were made locally may no longer be made locally. If and when there's concrete information about where the toys will be made, we can form a new opinion about how they're being made, where, and how we feel about continuing to buy Sprig toys.