The Wiseman Conspiracy

crayon on the wall what to do

2009-11-27T16:11:00.003-05:00

I have 3 words for you - it works trust me

pink gum eraser

When did you realize that breastmilk is the optimal food for your baby?

2009-11-27T10:14:00.004-05:00

When did you realize that breastmilk is the optimal food for your baby? I was recently asked this question and decided to share my answer with you.

From the time we were pregnant with Christophe there was no doubt that I would nurse him, we never researched formula or even looked at any. But if you would have asked me 10 or 15 years ago if I would nurse a baby when it was my turn to become a mom I think I would have said "I don't know?" I don't remember seeing anyone breastfeed as a child, I was not breastfeed. I know my aunt Monique breastfeed her children but it was always behind closed doors other then that I don't remember anyone else breastfeeding. I grew up in a world of bottles and formula.

It was definitely not from my childhood that I got my passion for breastfeeding.

So I look back at what point did i decide that breast was best. I don't think it was a conscious decision but something must have influenced me because when we got pregnant with Christophe there was really no question about it - I was going to nurse no matter what it took. And then it dawned upon me; who was the first person I saw breastfeeding that made it look like there was no other choice - our friend Kim. She was so determined to nurse her little boy no matter all the odds that were stacked up against her (at least that is the way it seemed at the time) that I finally realized that breastmilk is oh so important for babies that mothers who also realise that will go through hell achieving a nursing relationship with their babies.

If someone is willing to go through what seems like pure torture at the time to establish their milk supply and a proper latch so their baby can breastfeed when their is such an easy way out it must be extremely important to them and their baby.

Thank you Kim, without you who know Christophe might have been a formula fed bed (I hate even how that sounds.)

This all being said I don't want to scare new moms breastfeeding is not supposed to hurt, if you are experience any kind of pain or discomfort seek professional help. Your baby should be gaining weight after about one week of life and be back up to their birth weight after 2 weeks, if your baby is not gaining weight seek professional help. A midwife, lactation consultant, La Leche League leader or your doctor can help you - and remember most breastfeeding challenges are fixable - if you really want to nurse you can do it - all you need is some help.

words words words

2009-11-12T22:16:00.003-05:00

Christophe has been slowly mastering the world of speech. I have been meaning to compile a list of his words and this week I finally got around to it.

mama
no
meow
bow wow
moo
pokpok (this is his sound for a chicken)
zrooom (this is his sound for an elephant)
ppp (the noise a fish makes)
there it is
en haut
go
bateau
jus
cracker
wewonwewon (the noise emergency vehicles make)
hi
bye bye
guliguli (this is a imaginary that is in a song we sing)
Ella
uh oh
eau
aouch
baa baa
what's this
mumm mumm ( when something is yummy )
oh ( when he sees something he likes )

Maclaren Recalls 1 million Strollers

2009-11-10T08:35:00.004-05:00

It's official if you have a Maclaren Stroller it's probably been recalled.

The Hazard as described in the recall - The stroller's hinge mechanism poses a fingertip amputation and laceration hazard to the child when the consumer is unfolding/opening the stroller.

For recall information:
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10033.html

Halloween

2009-11-02T00:45:00.000-05:00

Visiting Avalon Orchards

2009-10-25T19:44:00.003-04:00

We visited Avalon Orchard this year to pick apples with Christophe (and pick up a few things at the store, including cases of their cider, which is the cider we usually drink.

Avalon Orchards is an organic apple orchard with a u-pick operation as well as organic cider which they package in glass bottles. We're pleased with the cider, and it's difficult to find organic cider in glass bottles, so it's nice to be able to buy it at all, let alone in cases. The price on-site this year was $30 for 12 bottles, which is about $2.50 per 1L bottle.

We had a good time. I think it's likely we'll return next year. I also took some pictures, of course.

Christophe was scared of the Queen Ann's Lace; this was the only time he was willing to touch it, and immediately wanted to be picked up:
Christophe, modeling his new fox hat:

Christophe loved the tractor, although the exhaust fumes were a little much:

Cupcakes

2009-10-22T10:29:00.002-04:00

Pierrette made chocolate cupcakes with mint icing made from the rest of the spearmint from our garden (nom nom nom), and Christophe was helping:

Pillow Talk

2009-10-20T20:03:00.004-04:00

Now that Christophe is getting older we are looking into many new things for him - one of them a pillow.

He has now had his pillow for about 1 month and sleeps on it about half the time.

When looking for a pillow you need to consider many aspects including whether or not you feel you child is ready - if you and an inclination of doubt about your toddler and pillow then wait. I had a hard time finding definitive information as to when is it appropriate to give a pillow to a child; what I found ranged from 18months to 3 years old. Christophe is on the lower end of that scale at 18 months (when he got the pillow) however he had already been climbing onto our pillow at night since he was about 12 months old. One of the key components that I found was consistence in everyones advice is - NO PILLOWS UNTIL YOUR CHILD IS OUT OF HIS CRIB.

There are thousands of types of pillows to chose out there I wont list them all, instead I will just talk about the one we ended up choosing for him. We selected a natural shredded rubber pillow and purchased it at Grassroots; it's a custom order and took about 1 1/2 months to get to us. The reason why we chose shredded rubber over cotton or wool is that we wanted something that was machine washable and hypoallergenic. Natural and organic materials were also very important to us; therefor this pillow had it all.

At the same time we ordered one standard pillow to keep in his room from me that way I did not need to drag one of my pillows in there each time he wok and wanted me to stay with him.

So far we are happy the pillows, mine is actually one of the most comfortable pillows I have ever had. Christophe seems to enjoy his he understands it's his and it matches with mine and that makes him happy.

Visiting the Zoo

2009-10-10T15:24:00.005-04:00

A nice side-effect of contract work, is that you can shuffle your time around or simply not work and not bill, as long as that's in keeping with the terms of your contract and the expectations of your client. You may not get paid vacations, but you have the option of just taking a day off. As a result, I did just that on 30-Sep-2009, and went to the zoo with my family and friends.

I brought my camera, as I'm wont to do. I was able to shoot some pictures of a month-old baby gorilla:

I was also able to get this picture of a butterfly which I'm pretty partial to:

There were of course some other nice photos, including the kids:

Easy Slow Cooker Corn Chowder

2009-09-27T16:58:00.003-04:00

Ingredients:

2 medium onions, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 medium potatoes, chopped
4 cups frozen corn kernels
4 cups veg. chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp butter
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
fresh parsley
1 1/2 cups milk

Directions:
1. combine all ingredients except cheese, butter, milk and parsley
2. cook on low for 8 to 10 hours until vegetables are tender
3. stir in butter and cheese until melted - cook for an additional 30 mins
4. serve with fresh parsley sprinkled on top

Finger Paint

2009-09-16T17:19:00.003-04:00

Most commercial brands of finger paint are expensive and who knows what goes in them. Instead as an alternative you can make some at home.

I tried this recipe today:

1/2 cup cornstarch
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups cold water
food coloring

Directions

In a medium pan, mix all the ingredients together to make the finger paint. Cook over low heat 10 to 15 minutes. Keep stirring the finger paint mixture until it is smooth and thick. After the finger paint has thickened take the pan off the stove and let the mixture cool.

After cooling, divide the finger paint into storage containers depending on how many colors you would like. Add a few drops of food coloring to each container. Seal and shake to mix in color. Cover tightly when storing.

Normally I would caution against using food coloring in a recipe as many food dyes are controversial when it come to your health; however I think making your own paint and knowing what goes into it outweighs this concern.

HAVE FUN PAINTING - I KNOW WE WILL BE

Beding, sheets and pillow cases

2009-09-05T16:56:00.005-04:00

As Christophe gets older I find the need to scrutinize more and more things we buy for him (and us for that matter). A few years ago if I needed new bed sheets I would have looked for 100% cotton sheets with a 200+ thread count in a color that matches the decor of the room they are for. (We currently have beige and red in our room bought under these guidelines almost 3 years ago now)

Today now that I am a more savvy stay at home mom I need to add a few more criteria to this list - so now we are looking for:

100% cotton
200+ thread count
Neutral color
Organic
no flame retardants
Fair trade (optional)

Now why you may say well here goes:

100% COTTON

We like cotton the best in our house: it's a natural fiber; it's soft; it's washer and dryer safe. Their are many other natural fibers out there such as silk and hemp. I find hemp is not that soft and well silk kills thousands of little worms to make your sheets and not the most practical to wash. There are also some not so natural but claiming to be natural fibers out their such as bamboo - for more info read this great article from Inhabitat.

250+THREAD COUNT

When you get sheets you want to make sure you get good quality sheets something that will last well this is where thread count (tc) comes in. Thread count refers to the number of threads, both vertical and horizontal, in a one-inch square of fabric. With my experience I find the more you have the stronger your fabric is and the softer the fabric is. This is not the only determining factor for these but a good guide. For example we got 400 tc once and really hated the sheets. So open the package and touch them first.

NEUTRAL COLOR

I used to buy sheets in some sort of fun color to match my room and often I would end up getting rid of them before they ripped whether because I got tired of them or I changed the decor and they did not match anymore. Now we only buy unbleached or natural sheets that way all our sheets match, you don't have to worry about matching pillowcases and so one. Also no matter the decor of your room the sheets will go with it. A plus to natural sheets is they give you that hotel feel when you slip into bed.

ORGANIC (or Unconventinaly grown)

For thousands of years cotton was grown organicly and then in the 1950s pestisides came along and revolutionised the cotton industry for the worst (according to me). Cotton became more plentiful and cheep while our enviroment and health was placed at risk. Pesticides have been linked to many health issues and enviromental issues. Some of these are: fertility problems; sensory, motor, mental and psychological effects; farmers or a gardener run a greater risk of developing neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease; Effects on learning; links to cancer... All you have to do is google pestisdes and effects on your health and you will find thousands of articles.

You have to keep in mind that cotton is the most heavily sprayed crop on the planet; "twenty-five percent of all insecticide is applied to cotton. Two hundred chemicals might be applied to a single plant in one season in the United States. This translates to a third of a pound of chemicals per pound of cotton fiber. One and a quarter pounds of agricultural chemicals are used in California to produce the conventionally grown cotton in a single set of queen-sized sheets."1

Buying organic cotton products can have a large impact on the enviroment - for the positive.

NO FLAME RETARDANTS (PBDEs)

We cover everything that is man mad in flame retardants so it does not go poof if their is a fire. When the easiest solution is to surround yourself in natural fibers with no chemicals so they don't go poof if their is a fire. Flame retardants are bad when it comes to close contact with you; now don't get me wrong I think their are places where flame retardants are required but my bed sheets is not one of them.

Why are flame retardants bad? "Health Effects related to Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs): Brain and nervous system, Reproduction and fertility, Persistent and bioaccumulative, Neurotoxin; brain damage."2

FAIR TRADE

I put fair trade as optional because well, we all know fair trade is better because it garentees that the workers making our product are treated fairly and paid proper wadges. I would love to only buy items that are fair trade. However sometimes an item that meets all my other requirements will be $50 and an equivalant item that is fair trade will be $75. Most times we can justify paying more but sometimes we just can afford to do so.

The perfect sheets according to me that is...

So when we needed to get some bedding for Christophe both for his crib and now his toddler bed we looked arround at what was readily available here in Toronto that met our critarias and ended up on going with Coyuchi. These meet all of my critarias and I can get them at 2 stores that are within walking distance from my house: Kids on the Hip and Grassroots.

Depending on where you shop a fitted crib sheet will cost you about $45CND; a fitted twin sheet $80CND; and a fitted king sheet $105CND. These are well worth it we used our crib sheets for about a year and washed them once every 2 weeks and they still look like new.

1. Source Coyuchi
2. Source EWG

Music Class for babies and toddlers - Music for Life

2009-09-03T16:25:00.004-04:00

Once again Christophe and I have enrolled in our music class with our good friend Eva. This is her 3rd session I believe and she is doing something right because each time we pass her house Christophe wants to go in whether or not the class is running that day.

Sometimes I wonder if he is getting anything out of it because he will sit for half the class then take of running - but that is the great thing about this setting Eva is OK with that. As long as your child is around music that is all that matters. However when we pass by her house and Christophe starts crying because he wants to go to class and I told him their is no class today - I know he must be getting something out of this.

I have been to various baby music classes and circle times but their is something special about Eva's classes, I think it's her kind hearted nature and awesome mothering that comes true in her classes. Each class is structured with it's own theme and follows a basic outline. We sing some songs, we play instruments, we dance to Eva playing the fiddle them we sing some more songs. Christophe particularly likes the fiddle and dancing. I think that is because of his spirited behavior.

Last session I met a few of my blog readers there and it was great; hopefully I might see a few more of you again this time around.

Oh almost forgot one of the best things about Music for life is the cost per class is probably one of the best deals you will find in Toronto.

Breastfeeding Challenge 2009

2009-09-02T23:54:00.003-04:00

If you live in Toronto come join me at the Breastfeeding Challenge 2009.

Date: October 3rd 2009
Time: Registration 9:30AM
Location: Rosedale Heights School of the Arts, 711 Bloor Street East (Castle Frank Subway)

Oh so good arugula salade

2009-08-28T19:52:00.001-04:00

Arugula Salad with Pears & Beets

3 cups arugula (washed and torn)

8 small beets

2 pears, sliced

3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

6 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

½ cup crumbled feta

¼ cup chopped pecans

Salt and pepper, to taste

Cook the beets either by steaming them (it should take about 40 minutes either way). Peel and cut beets into thin wedges.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper; whisk until mixture is smooth.

In a bowl, toss arugula with 3 tablespoons of the vinaigrette dressing. Arrange arugula onto four salad plates. Toss pears and beets with remaining dressing. Arrange over the arugula.

Sprinkle cheese and pecans over the salad.

I Am Not A Paper Cup

2009-08-17T13:28:00.004-04:00

Pierrette bought this for me just before the kitchen renovation:

I've finally dug the coffee grinder out from one of the various boxes, and so I've started to use the cup, and I'm actually pretty fond of it. Besides the kitsch of a ceramic cup that looks like a paper one, it's a decent size, it feels good to the hand, it's got good thermal insulation (I can't even tell there's hot coffee in there once it's closed), which means the coffee stays fairly warm, and it doesn't seem to leak, which has been a problem for me with lots of plastic cups with rubber washers and screw threads that you'd think would prevent such a thing.

Anyway -- I'm pleased.

Livie Luca Shoes - giveaway from This Mom Can shop

2009-08-15T18:20:00.003-04:00

Check out this great contest at This Mom Can Shop for some Livie Luca Shoes...

http://www.thismomcanshop.com/2009/08/livie-luca-giveaway.html

Bonne fete du 15 Aout

2009-08-15T07:58:00.007-04:00

Today is Acadia birthday, the land I am from and I hope Christophe will love as he grows up. Like many of my ancestors did I left Acadia to settle elsewhere but you can never take the love for on lands out of an Acadian. Ask any Acadian or Cajun and they will tell you the same. The following video is one of my favorite Cajun songs by Zachary Richard it's called Reveille and is about the Great Upheaval (Grand Deportation).

Bonne fete du 15 Aout a tout les Acadien et Cajun au tour du monde.

Whats for supper

2009-08-12T15:27:00.003-04:00

Summery Bean and Zucchini Salad

½ pound fresh green beans

1 zucchini

¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil

½ cup fresh mint leaves*

¼ cup white wine vinegar

½ tsp salt

1 clove garlic

¼ tsp ground black pepper

1 cup toasted walnuts*

1 cup chopped red onion

1 cup feta cheese* (crumbled)

Wash beans and trim ends then cut into thirds. Parboil by dropping into salted boiling water for 2 - 5 minutes. Drain and plunge into ice water for 5 minutes, then drain well and chill. Meanwhile, cut zucchini into ¼” semi-circles, fry or grill until crisp tender. Allow to cool. In food processor, combine oil, mint leaves, vinegar, salt, garlic and pepper and process 20 seconds then set aside.

Place beans and zucchini in a serving bowl and top with toasted walnuts, red onion and feta. Pour dressing over salad and toss. Best if made 2 hours ahead of time or the day before to develop flavors.

*Don’t have mint, walnuts or feta? Any herb, nut and cheese combination would work – Try: pine nuts, basil and parmesan; or almonds, parsley and a shaved hard cheese.

Recipe from Front Door Organics

We are not all perfect

2009-08-04T08:11:00.006-04:00

After a small accident today involving our new stove (it's still not plugged in, so before you panic, everyone is OK) I started reflecting. We all try our best to keep our kids safe but they still get an "Ouch" from time to time. We are always blogging about how great parents we are and all the great products we love. It's interesting because what we type online is only one side of what we want people to know. We can chose to omit things as we please.

So, we as mothers and fathers are not perfect. Here are some of the less fine moments from the Wiseman house: I tripped with Christophe in my sling; Christophe wiped out on our wet kitchen floor; Christophe opened the stove door onto his head (it really sounds worse than it was); Christophe crawled into his crib rails while sleeping and gaves himself a bloody nose (this one scared the crap out of me)...

I know I am not alone out there in this world of "not as perfect as we seem" mothers. One of my friends' little one learned how to roll on the change table; another one had her little one surprise them in the middle of the night when they climbed out of their crib; someone else saw their little one tumble down 2 concrete steps because they could not react fast enough. (Everyone mentioned above is 100% A-OK)

I have also been witness to a mother lapse in judgement while trying to juggle a baby and toddler; the baby rolled to the ground from the top of a cafe table; another time in the same cafe a toddler accidentally poured a cup of hot coffee on themselves. (Once again everyone is fine)

So, are our kids made from rubber? Sometimes I think they are; but that is not the point of this post. The point is that we are all human. We try our best to be on guard for all dangers that lurk around the corner and sometimes the dangers win.

I just want to remind everyone that our first and foremost responsibility as a parent is to love and protect our kids.

Oh, and did I ever mention we think Christophe ate a rivet once?

I dare you to share some of our not so perfect moments...

World Breastfeeding Week August 1 to 7 - 2009

2009-08-01T06:00:00.002-04:00

Happy Breastfeeding Week to all my nursing mama and baby friends out there.

In honor of world breastfeeding week here is a compilation of on-line links with breastfeeding information:

Remember the WHO recomandes that all babies if possible are exclusively breastfed until they are 6 months of age; breastfeeding is to continue until the child reaches 2 years of age or outgrows the need.

Ikea Redhook says no to public breastfeeding

2009-07-24T23:04:00.006-04:00

Sarah and Sasha were banished to a washroom after atempting to nurse at Ikea in Redhook. Sarah wrote the following story on a message board:

"On Wednesday I was in Ikea Redhook in the middle of breastfeeding, fully covered, when I was told I had to stop doing "that" and go to the nearby family bathroom. The Ikea employee and security guards were extremely rude to us. I was hustled off to the bathroom and then had to wait because someone else was using it. I was humiliated, my daughter was upset from being interrupted in the middle of her feed. When eventually I gave up and headed for the car to finish feeding, the security guards who had seen the entire event insisted on checking my receipts. I'm putting together a formal complaint to IKEA. I was wondering if
this has happened to anyone else?"

Just another reason why I dont like Ikea right now.

My Ikea experiance part 1

2009-07-24T07:27:00.005-04:00

On June 26 we had a minor flood in our kitchen and this prompted us to decide to renovated our kitchen; the kitchen really needed a makeover and we were planning on doing it at some point so why not now. The only concern was cost we needed to keep the full reno at around 10,000. We got to this number after talking with my Realtor Josee Couture (if you live in Toronto and need a Realtor she is great) she basically said with the market value in your area and the condition of our home a kitchen reno would add approximately 10,000 to 15,000 to the value of our home. That said since we are doing all the work ourselves (or I should say my dad is doing the work) all we needed to do is try the keep the materials cost down and everyone knows that Ikea gives the more bang for your bucks in wow factor.

Luckily I am an Interior Designer so I was able to measure design and turn around a preliminary floor plan and elevations for my kitchen in a day; so off we went to Ikea North York on June 28 to purchase my kitchen. I had already chosen at home all the Ikea finishes that I wanted (their website is extremely detailed); they even have a kitchen planning toll online that I would have used instead of drawing my plans by hand other then the fact that the software is not compatible with a MAC. We go to the kitchen section of Ikea and I find someone in a yellow shirt; this is a brief description of our conversation:

Me: I would like to speak to someone to ensure that the kitchen I've designs works and then get some help to make sure I have all the components.
Ikea: Did you plan your kitchen using our kitchen planner?
Me: No, but I am an Interior Designer and I have full plans and elevations of the kitchen.
Ikea: You have to enter your kitchen in our kitchen planner; let me set you up - it should not take you too long. We will also place your name on a list so someone will come to talk to you.
Me: The only reason I did not use your kitchen planner was that it does not work with a MAC
Ikea: Yeah we know you should have just come straight in to the store; here is everything you need to get started.

I would like to point out that the whole family (Geoff, Chrstophe and me) left for Ikea that day around 10am. So I sit down get started various people come around and tell me how the plan looks great; wow you have such a big project, your kitchen it going to look great, and to answer various questions I have. Lunch rolls around we have pasta at the Ikea restaurant (the kitchen planning tool lets me save my kitchen on-line o I could leave freely and come back as I needed). After lunch I come back and finalize my kitchen around 4:30pm it's done I am finally ready to order. You ask why it took so long?

If I could have used the planning tool with my MAC I could have came in with a plan already inputted in their oh so sacred kitchen planning tool
Every time I tried to add a upper cupboards the system would go bonkers
I could not override the pulls to mix and match the styles (we are using long D pulls and want to select the length based on the size of the door or the drawer)
Unless you have a perfectly square room the programme does not seem to like you and gives you a hard to to place cabinets in that will need to be cut to fit your room
Every time I tried to rotate my 3D drawing it would zoom all the way in and I would have to restart looking at the 3D a few times before it worked
Whenever I wanted to speak to someone i had to wait 15 to 30 minutes on average. 15 minutes is acceptable; 30 minutes is a bit long. One time I waited almost 45 minutes. they really need more staff.

So at 4:30ish (it might have been latter then that at this point the time is all a blur - I have been there all day). Janice comes over to help me finally finalize my kitchen. I ask her all the right questions such as.

Will the cabinets fit with the height of my ceiling?
Will my range hood fit with the height of my ceiling?
What pieces will have to be cut to fit - so when everything gets home I know what to do.
Can I actually cut all the pieces we talked about?
What is the return policy
What is the warranty
Is there anything I did not ask or seem to have though about that your expertise as an Ikea Kitchen Planner can add?

TO BE CONTINUED...

Things I have learned about customer service

2009-07-21T15:08:00.006-04:00

During the last month, I have been to more hardware stores then any other shopping destinations and I have to say service at hardware stores in Toronto sucks. Here is in order from the worst to the best:

Rona (Warden and Eglinton) - I needed to get 3 items in 3 different departments at Rona, after wondering the aisles for 30 minutes and not finding what I needed, I decided to try to get help. I found the first person available they said "I don't work that department let me page someone." Thirty minutes later I had help. I then asked that person about something in the next department they gave me the same answer and again 30 minutes later I had help; needless to say the same thing happend for the 3rd item I needed. 3 hours later I was at the checkout with a screaming baby in arms that was just about as fed up as I was. If it would not be for the fact that we had about $400 in gift certificates at Rona I would not have entered the store again for the duration of the project.
Home Depot (Gerrard Square) - This is our close large hardware store we end up going here for almost everthing just because it is only a few minutes drive away. The service is hit and miss everyone is always nice but you can't trust what they say more then once we have been mislead on how to use a product. Like the guy who said the concrete board should face label-side out when the labels were randomly placed on smooth and rough sides, and, in fact, the orientation depends on whether or not you're using mortar or adhesive on top.
Home Hardware (Gerrard and Coxwell) - Amazing bunch of guys that work here, they are very knowlegeble and friendly however the store is very small so you can not always get what you want.
Lowes (Warden and Eglinton) - I hate saying this but I am impressed with Lowes, the staff knows what they are talking about, you get service fast, the staff is extra nice. The store is huge so they pretty much always have what we need. I hope this lasts, our Lowes is pretty new.

And that is that on hardware stores. Basically, Rona has lost my business except for when we have gift cards there (I say this because you can cash in Air Miles for Rona gift cards); Home Depot could probably treat us like crap and we would go back just because they are convenient; Home Hardware is my first stop for little things; Lowes has definitely won me over and if I need to price compare I will make the trip.

Where have I gone to

2009-07-21T14:16:00.005-04:00

Some of you may have wondered where I have gone; well, the answer is: deep into kitchen renovation. About a month ago now our plumbing gave under the sink leaving a flood in my kitchen and we decided to take this opportunity to renovate instead of just patching up a kitchen that was already in shambles.

My mom and dad are down from NB helping (thank you so much). 3 weeks into the reno, my dad is now working on getting the floor ready for my new cork floor. The walls are up and painted; same goes for the ceiling.

I wish we could have done the full kitchen eco-friendly but cost restriction and timing prohibited us from doing so. However I did consider the enviroment at many points in the kitchen reno; below are some of the decisions that we made that are in part green.

Cork Floor: When cork is harvested the tree is not destroyed and then replanted but rather the bark is trimmed from the tree every 9 years, leaving the tree and the forest undamaged. Its not unusual to have a 200 year old tree still producing cork bark. Cork flooring is actually made from the waste of the cork wine stopper manufacturing process so cork flooring is a recycled product.
Sico Go Prime Duo 100% Acrylic Latex Primer- Sealer and Undercoat: This is a great all purpose primer with less then 78.38g/L of VOC's. I knwo there are some primers out there that have 0g/L VOC however we had some primer left over from a previous project and in our time restraints could not get our hands on anything that had a lower VOC count.
Sico Paint Chamois: This is a 0g/L VOC paint; however the tint does add some VOC, the darker your paint the more VOC in it. Once again I know more eco-friendly options exist but we had all the paint we needed left over from previous projects.
I would have loved to get a LED light fixture for the kitchen but the up front cost is too much for us; instead we got a light fixture that could accomodate a compact florecent bulb. When chosing your light fixture make sure to always double check that a compact fluorescent bulb will fit, they are bigger then their incandescent conterparts.
We are reusing our existing cabinet pulls. We don't have enough to do the full kitchen so the uppers will have the old pulls reused and the lowers are going to have new pulls giving the kitchen a unique fun look.
An Ikea kitchen we chose Ikea for a few reasons first they are inexpensive secondly they do have a good enviromental practice. Ikea is not perfect but they do try harder then many companies out there to find out more check out : http://www.theikeaway.ca/en/home.html.

I found a great website with information on non-toxic painting if anyone is interested:
http://www.eartheasy.com/live_nontoxic_paints.htm#2d