On the 26th of January I went with Anne to the Garden Fest at BC. Despite the earlier rain and cold, there was a good turnout.

On Sunday the 27th we celebrated Alice’s 97th birthday at Red Lobster. On the 29th (her actual birthday) we had breakfast at Denny’s and she dressed in her new blue dress, blue purse and blue shoes. Polly and I gave her an autographed copy of Blue Shoes and Happiness , part of the Lady Detective series by Alexander McCall Smith. She also received pieces of a tea set honoring the 150th anniversary of Alice in Wonderland (actually in 2012). Later she was honored at other ceremonies.

On the 1st of February we again heard Woody speak on Madagascar. Again, the pictures were excellent, but the talk was a bit long. It did make me wish we could return and see the changes. Apparently the roads are a lot worse than when we were there in 1996.

On mother’s Day the family had dinner at Lora’s. John passed out a beautiful card with our grandson Matthew climbing a rock. (John had made a trip up to Susanville where James now runs IT for the Susanville Rancheria.)

On the 13th we heard Atilla speak on Australian Succulents. I had heard him before at the 2009 CSSA convention in Tucson, but he is well worth hearing more than once. I got him to autograph my copy of the Succulents of Australia, but he says it is now out of print. Instead, he has produced a series of booklets on the separate sections (which he sold at the meeting.)

On the 17th half a dozen people (plus kids) showed up at Anne’s to make pots. They also toured my collection and Anne’s garden. The temperature had dropped a bit so it was a good morning.