Franklin Springs Family Media

Difficult Decision

Thursday, February 25, 2010

There were numerous excellent entries to our Homestead Blessings “What Have They Meant to You?” contest.  After reading the many nice tributes to the West Ladies, we wish we could reward everyone who entered with a complimentary DVD.  But then it would be a giveaway, not a contest. : )

Here are the winning entries:

ADULT

I only discovered Homestead Blessings this past winter.  Already, the West Ladies are such a blessing to our family.  As a new homesteading family, we have enjoyed learning new skills to help us reach our goals of getting back to simplicity.  In fact, we’ve used The Art of Gardening video to supplement our homeschool Agriscience course.  We’ve already implemented some of the new skills and have built a compost bin.  As well, we have begun saving our kitchen scraps to use for our spring compost pile.  I just love that we can watch the videos again to reinforce our newly learned skills.

As a mother, I sometimes just watch The West Ladies for encouragement.  In this age, when so many hearts are turned away from the home, I find comfort in knowing there are others out there who still cherish and desire to the nurture the home.  The West Ladies are kindred spirits who encourage me as a Keeper at Home.  I am so thankful to have discovered them, and even my husband is so pleased to own a series of DVDs that supports the values that we hold dear.

                                                                    - Delinda B.

YOUTH

We had to award two in this category…

Without a doubt we have most benefited from the West Ladies in the matter of inspiration. We already made bread and gardened, but they inspired us to go “above and beyond the Call of Duty”.

As we watch them make everything beautiful we are inspired to do likewise. We always made bread, but they made it lovely. They made gorgeous sweet rolls and pizza crusts.

The movies are filmed so well and the dialouge is so clear, we felt like we were right there with them. When we finish each movie we always go try to make our own “Homestead Blessings”!

                                                                      - Jessica P, age 16

Clean clothes were already on our clothesline, but thanks to the charming West ladies, we’ve been inspired to increase our homesteading skills, right here in the city!

The West ladies do a wonderful job giving easy-to-follow instructions, and are really fun to watch! Since seeing their DVDs, I have dipped nine lovely beeswax candles, and I hope to make a bunch more! I have baked every recipe on “The Art of Bread-making”, and we have loved them all! Their recipes for bread, meal-in-a-loaf, pizza, and cinnamon rolls have become favorites. 
                                                                       
After watching “The Art of Canning”, my mom and I felt confident to do some ourselves. We canned several jars of peach jelly and we hope to do more this summer. We will soon be experimenting with their idea of planting potatoes without dirt; I’m eager to see how that goes. I have not learned how to make soap yet, but this is something I really want to do soon. 
I have been thankful to learn useful skills which help me as I seek to serve God, my family, our church, guests in our home, and as I prepare to be a homemaker. As Mrs. West says, “It’s a blessing!” and we agree!

                                                                      - Mary Pate H., age 12

CHILD

I really like the West Ladies videos.  They are packed with great ideas and good recipes.  I have made their pizza sticks and also cinnamon rolls.  This summer we plan to try their potato planting idea.  The videos are very fun to watch because they are a good encouragement for my family.  Another thing I like about the DVDs is some of them have songs that the West Ladies have written.

                                                                        - Julia P., age 8

Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to everyone who sent the many thoughtful entries.  The Art of Sewing releases next week.