Eyes sharp enough to thread a needle at 100

Birthday girl Lorraine Bowyer will turn 100 tomorrow, but she can still thread a needle without glasses and do "anything" with her hands.
From her armchair at Virginia Lodge Mrs Bowyer is looking forward to celebrating a century of life with her family and friends at a party in her honour today.
"It's taken too long to come! These last 3 weeks have taken ages and ages to come. It'll be nice to see the children, and grandchildren."
Born July 12 1909, Mrs Bowyer is the last surviving child of Ivy May and Joseph Salt's seven children.
Mrs Bowyer said she lived a "very, very interesting" life growing up in Wanganui, and in the various places her father took the family to camp, including Uruti in North Taranaki and Huiroa, inland from Stratford.    
Her father built bridges, often taking the family on extended camping trips to building sites along rivers throughout the country and renting out their home in Wanganui.
"It was a jolly good healthy life out in the country," she said.
Mrs Bowyer remembers the excitement of the camping trips, which often meant their first night at a new site was a bit uncomfortable.
"They made us beds out of four little chunks of trees and put sacks over them. And we'd sleep on the sacks over night filled with straw, until the next day when real beds would be made."
At one camping site, her father built a flying fox to send the children across the river to get to school.
"He'd put us all in sacks, even my mother, and send us across the river."
When her father died in his forties of complications following an accident with an axe, Mrs Bowyer left high school and went home to help her mother.
"When my father was in the hospital suffering, my mother was at home having this (the last) baby."
"You can imagine what it was like, us girls all just leaving school and mum left with us, and a new baby coming, and her not very well. She couldn't get out to see my father. Some people had it pretty hard."
At 20 she married Alfred Bowyer, an engineer one year older than her. They had three children, eldest son Brad, Barbara and then Margaret.
"The day war broke out in 1939, Alfred was in the reserve air force and they called him up and he had to go out into the air force."
"He loved aeroplanes, he loved working on them. He was very clever."
Mr Bowyer died aged 76, after a life of heavy smoking, said Mrs Bowyer.
Having lived for so long, Mrs Bowyer has seen Wanganui change drastically.
"It's just full of going's on, you'd need to write a book about it."
"It's being ruined by all these bad people who are coming in and committing murders and things. It's terrible. We never had to worry about shutting your windows and doors at night."
Mrs Bowyer accredits her long life to good and healthy living.
"Healthy living, good parents, good food, plenty of vege and fruit," she said.
"Also, I looked after my mother until she was 96, and I always thought that the old bible says, 'Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the earth which the lord thy god giveth thee.' I think there's a lot in that."
Her passions were whitebaiting and playing bowls, which she said kept her healthy.
Although unable to walk very far due to a broken hip four years ago, and her legs have since started 'playing up' Mrs Bowyer has kept up her passion for sewing and puzzles.
"Sewing, fancywork, knitting and crochet. Anything with a needle, I did it," she said.
She said it was only in the past few weeks that her eyesight had gotten 'a bit blurry', but she said she had done "heaps and heaps of fancy work" in her lifetime, and had given it all away.
She holds up an intricately crocheted basket of flowers she had done earlier this year.
"I did this when I was 99," she said.
Sometimes though, her age frustrated her.
 "I've done dozens and dozens of those books [word finders] since I broke my hip four years ago, but you know what? I've suddenly found I just can't go on with it. I can't remember how to do it."
"It'll come, but I've just forgotten how to do it. That's stupid isn't it? It'll come back, but to think that I've done dozens and dozens of books of them!" she said.
Despite her age slowing her down a bit, Mrs Bowyer said she was optimistic about living past 100.
 
"I've still got time yet, but I don't know. My eyes a getting a bit dim, I have to blink a lot. I don't like that."
"On the whole I think I'm very lucky. I can read the paper and I can read a book and I can sew. There isn't anything I can't do with my hands, even thread a needle."
Although she said she hadn't thought of a birthday wish, there is one person she would liked to have at her party.
"I have a school friend, she will be 100 two days after me. Her name is Phil Tasker, and we've been friends for over 90 years.
She isn't able to make it to the party though.
"She's in bed like me, she can't move. It's unfortunate but there we are. I wish she could [come]. It'd be lovely. In over 90 years we've never had a cross word with each other."