Tuesday, April 28, 2020
Mary (Frances) Bailey Stoops
Mary (Frances) Bailey Stoops was born 100 years ago. The Bailey family got their water from a spring, and hauled it down not too far from the house where they held it in a cistern, something like a small pool.
The Great Depression was not too bad for them since there was very little they needed to buy. The administration paid farmers to shoot their cattle, evidently to create shortages. Seems to be a parallel with the one we are diving into.
Mom made her wedding dress.
One photo of Mother, when she was about 40, shows her hiding behind a very young cypress tree. She was small in her own eyes, like Saul hiding among the baggage when they went to crown him as king. But the good part is, she never became proud. Mother walked with God. Several in the retirement home in Visalia rebuked us for taking her away, when my sister-in-law had her transferred to Fresno.
Mother loved vegetable and flower gardening: roses, irises, black-eyes, green beans, corn, okra... She jarred apricots, so we could enjoy them all year. She blanched corn and headed up her children to help cut it off the cob to freeze for the winter. Mother or Daniel who milked the cow each morning and evening at six. Mother was a faithful neighbor, visiting each of the five homes surrounding us, and sold certain ones a gallon of fresh cow's milk for 30 cents, though she was allergic to it herself.
One day, Mother was transferring our “Bossie” Guernsey cow up our road toward the highway, when it broke into a run, dragging Mom down the side of the road. Mom was about ten feet behind, holding onto the chain.
Mother faithfully bathed at the end of her life, Mrs. Cole, an old Indian woman who claimed that she was 119-years-old.
Neighbors, John Whittington, Sr. and Mrs. Cole, also it was Mr. or Mrs. Myers, I don’t recall which, who prayed with mother, to receive Christ as their savior, when their life came to an end.
Sometimes people gave us used clothing. Once, when Mother was out, I put on a pair of short-shorts and a matching sleeveless top that did not cover my abdomen. When Mother spotted me, I was down the street attempting to sell orders for imprinted Christmas cards. Boy, was I in trouble!
Here Samuel and I are with Grandma Bailey, Mom's mother.
During my years in college and beyond, Mother’s words never left me. I knew in each circumstance, just what Mom would say: “I wouldn’t want to be in their place on the Judgement Day... Marry in haste, repent at leisure... Babies would not take so much of our time if we did not spend so much time looking at them... Necessity is the mother of invention... A stitch in time saves nine... A willful waste makes a woeful want... Esther Lee, as sweet as she can be... Notice that all the food on the table, we have either raised [beef, milk] or [garden] grown.”
Mother encouraged me when there were heartbreaks, “If you are not the right one for him, then he is not the right one for you.” Or, cautioned me, “Esther, I don’t think he is the right one for you.” When David asked Dad if he could marry me, Mother said, “I’m so happy for you.”
And it was Mother, who pressed us in 1982 with urgency that we listen to Focus on the Family. There we learned from Raymond & Dorothy Moore that homeschooling gives more interaction with adults, therefore the possible making of kings.
Here are our first five children with Mom & Dad, their grandparents.
Mother’s favorite chapter in the Bible, Psalm 103, is also mine: “His kingdom rules over all.”
Here is Mother with six of her seven grown children.
Sunday, March 1, 2020
Bee Friends & Research
Always Christmas
One of Mike's Many Butterfly Collections
Joe Trainer pushed beekeepers to 8-frame hives.
Lance, Victor & Dustin presented Mike with a fish.
Wednesday, July 17, 2019
Dave Seppi
David's Father, Dave Seppi was born on this day 7-17-1917

Around age 13, Dave Seppi, began working at Labouri’s service station, in Helper UT, where he learned mechanics. During a trip to California he got a job at a service station, later, as crane operator for American Forge Co.,
He met Betty Hagerty, a young nurse from South Dakota, in Oakland. They were married September 1, 1946.
Dave drove a commuter bus for Key Systems till he was drafted into the army. He was chosen as a cook at Beal Air Force Base in Marysville. After the war, Dave tested for the California Highway Patrol while driving for Key Systems. Dave and Betty’s first baby, David Robert, was born in 1947 in Berkeley, The Seppi family moved to Bakersfield California where Dave patrolled the grapevine. In Bakersfield the Seppi’s were blessed with Lance Richard, 1950, John Leonard 1951, and Mary Jane 1952. Dave was promoted in the CHP to Sgt. and moved the family to Sacramento. When promoted to Lieutenant, he moved to Jackson CA, where he helped build their home where he lived until Christmas Day 2005. After retiring, Dave served 16 years on the irrigation board for Amador County.
Dave was known for his warm greetings, Italian cooking, art, woodcarvings, gardening, golfing, hunting, fishing, woodworking.
Son of an Austrian immigrant coal miner...
Saturday, July 6, 2019
Saturday, September 1, 2018
Edgerton Defends Desecrated Confederate Monument
Here's a dynamic black man defending a Confederate monument.
American patriot H.K. Edgerton stood beside the destroyed remnants of the “Silent Sam” Confederate statue in Chapel Hill, North Carolina Wednesday with a Confederate flag to protest the destruction of Southern American history.
Edgerton, the former Asheville, N.C. chapter president of the NAACP, delivered an eloquent defense of the statue, which was torn down in an Antifa riot in which the University of North Carolina was clearly complicit. Edgerton explained how the Confederate military was integrated and spoke of the numerous black heroes who fought and gave their lives at war — black heroes who used to be honored by Silent Sam, but are honored no longer due to Antifa’s criminal actions.
Monday, July 9, 2018
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Betrothed: Victor & Cassie
Jen, Cassie, Nadia (Lance & Megan's daughter), Victor
Dec. 26, 2017
First Fight Feb. 18
Cassie & Victor in Washington Feb. 22
Celebrating Regina's Birthday
Victor & Cassie
Jackson, Esther, Paul
Jodavid, Casey, Jackson, Adam
Honoring the Lord's Day and Celebrating Regina's Birthday
Saturday, May 19, 2018
Ginger for Osteoarthritis
A quarter- to a half-teaspoon a day of powdered ginger can be as pain-relieving as ibuprofen, without the risk of damage to your intestinal lining. Click the image below to watch the video: http://nutritionfacts.org/video/ginger-for-osteoarthritis/?utm_content=buffer9c351&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
We use fresh ginger, but ginger essential oil is effective as well.
We use fresh ginger, but ginger essential oil is effective as well.
Friday, May 18, 2018
Peter Graduated with Honors from Covenant Seminary
Invitation
Peter with Parents
Campus Flower Garden
Peter's family arriving for Baccalaurete
Peonies on campus were beautiful
Photos by Neal Bringe
Saturday, May 12, 2018
Raving Raw Honey

Unfiltered honey contains propolis, a compound that kills bacteria. Raw honey is best because it has not been through a heating process (over 100 degrees, as it is in the beehive) Therefore, it tastes much better.
Honey is one of only three common foods containing pinocembrin (ginger is another), an antioxidant associated with improved brain function.
If you would like a 6 lb. jug, please send your address to dneseppi@aol.com so we can send you an address where you can send a check of $45. [35. for the honey + $10. for shipping]
Or $80 for two jugs: $35 ea for honey + $10 for shipping & handling within the continental US.
Glucose is good for learning and memory. Honey is primarily composed of two types of sugar: glucose and fructose. Honey high in fructose rarely crystallize. Honey high in glucose has a stronger tendency to crystallize over time. To re-liquefy your crystallized honey, leave in your car sitting in the sun or stand the lightly sealed jar into a container of warm water for 20 minutes or run under a hot tap. The honey will gently liquefy.
Switzel - Our “Ginger Ale” - Love it!
⅓ c Apple Cider Vinegar, raw and unpasteurized
⅓ c Raw Orange Honey
1 large Lemon, peeled w potato peeler
1" cube of Ginger, peeled
Blend above in filtered water, then pour into a gallon and fill with filtered water.