August 2009

The MS 100 Mile Bike Ride.

Marshall, Daughter Kim, and her Husband Terry

Stacy and her Grandson Sam          One of our daughters, Stacy has Multiple Sclerosis. It is a terrible disease that for some unknown reason causes the immune system to attack the insulating cover of the nerve cells in the body. This damage creates havoc in the electrical signals that are transmitted to the body's organs, muscles and functions.

         There is no cure at present and we as a family are exploring every way available to help Stacy. One way is a 100 mile bike ride to help raise money to cure MS. Marshall (the wonderful webmaster of Phee McFaddell and my husband), and other members of our family are now in training for the ride. Each person who participates must be sponsored with $400 in donations. So please help us by donating to this worthy MS research and sharing our prayers for Stacy, who is now having to undergo chemotherapy to try and stop further damage to her body.

         Information about how to donate can be found here.

The Great River Adventure

Click to enlarge          We had an awesome vacation! Magic was wondrously alive from high in the snow topped mountains (yes, even in early summer there is snow on some mountains), to the great forests dripping pure sweet nectar (called rain by some people), to meadows of wild flowering buckwheat, phlox, marsh marigolds, pussy paws, heather, mountain laurel, and oh!, so many more, all joyously dancing in the soft early summer breeze. Water flowed everywhere. Crystal clear cold snow melt, slip streaming through luminous green mosses and ferns, bursting into falls along the trails and roads, resting in the vast bowls of ancient volcanos and running deep and mysterious in massive rivers. It fed our eyes, our hearts and our spirits in every step and turning.

         We would love to have you to tea someday to share more of this adventure, but for now I will share one experience that will stay forever in my memory, a river float on the great river, Deschutes.

         What a fine day it was! The air was soft and so clean I never sneezed once. The sky so blue you could put your finger up and fingerpaint. The earth smelled like peppermint taffy with a dusting of pine pollen and so much energy poured up I floated down the path leading to the boat launch.

         The river Deschutes was about 100 feet across at our point of entry, but it widens and narrows many times in its 200 mile plus journey from Little Lava Lake to the Columbia River. This section was an easy current to float along in a canoe for a few miles but before long one came to a waterfall and some flashy rapids which might have been fun another day.


Click to enlarge          Our group was there to enjoy an afternoon float and a picnic along the way of course. To our surprise there were more than humans enjoying the river that day. All rivers are two, the one humans see and experience and then its great essence where beings of less density live and experience its personality. We made a nodding and polite acquaintance with several of these wondrous beings and even shared our picnic spot with an otter who was a masterful rower and he pointed out all the places of interest. I have drawn a few pictures of these delightful beings for you to color and one extraordinary swan boat to color and craft.


Click to enlarge          It is amazing what will float on water. We once bought some large plastic swans from a garden shop, painted them black with bright red/orange beaks and Marshall put ballast, his lead diving weights, in the bottom section to keep the swans upright in the water and then I filled them to overflowing with flowers and we floated them in a pool for one of our daughter's wedding.

         What can you think of that will float on water? There are many good sites on the internet and books at the library to give your inspiration many clues. Can you draw a picture of things that float? I would love to see your pictures and hear your ideas.

New Coloring and Craft pages!

River Otter
Coloring Page
Tube Float Moon
Coloring Page
Syril Sivertooth
Coloring Page

Swan Boat
Coloring Page
Mermaid Float
Coloring Page
Gourd Float
Coloring Page

Goose Float
Coloring Page
Swan Boat
Craft Page

Midsummer Night's Dream

         My apologies for not including another to color segment of the story. As I originally stated, it is a work in progress and I will add to it in and amongst all the other stuff that goes on, so don't surprised if there is a long pause while we do the Halloween and Christmas pages. You can find the bards story here!

Your Work

         What a delight to receive your wonderful color work and ideas! I was especially excited by the beautiful ribbon work on the puppets done by Misty. Thanks for sharing Misty, this should be a fun new project for those of you who love the puppets.



         Thanks also to Eric for sharing his very own original fairy drawing. Great work, Eric! I am so happy to see you doing your own creative work. See Eric's work here!

         To see more of the color work done by you go to Kids Coloring.

Strange Alien Plant

         This three foot tall strange alien plant was found in Cambria California. It is believed to be the first sighting, in that area for the past twenty years. Do you know what it is? If so please contact Phee.

Nea Wiseman is now on Facebook

Don't forget Phee now has Colored Fairy Puppet Kits

Cards and prints from the World of Phee
all from artist Nea Wiseman