ARARAT - With only a day to go before marking a centenarian milestone, Muriel Osmond's memory is as sharp as a tack.
The only thing the delightful 99 year old misses is her hearing, which has dimmed with age.
"It really is the worst part of being 100, but at least I can still talk,'' Mrs Osmond said.
Memories of a long lifetime are still fresh in Mrs Osmond's mind, who has travelled around the world during the later stages of her life.
Born in South Wales, Mrs Osmond was raised by her grandmother after her mother died in the 1919 flu epidemic when she was 11 years old.
It was through her grandfather's involvement with the Baptist church that Mrs Osmond met her husband, Ishmael.
Mrs Osmond said while not being particularly religious, she used to take a group of children for Sunday school.
"Instead of probably doing what I ought to have done I used to read them Aesop's Fables and things like that, so I was quite a popular Sunday school teacher,'' Mrs Osmond said.
Following Sunday school, classes would break into groups of girls and boys to socialise.
"The boy that was destined to be my husband was there, and he could remember what I wore to church for years afterwards,'' Mrs Osmond said.
It was at a party where Mr Osmond made his affections for the-then Muriel Lott known.
"I can always remember one of the girls flirting with him desperately, she was saying, `you'd take me to Venice wouldn't you Mr Osmond', and he turned to her and said `I've been thinking about Miss Lott,'' Mrs Osmond said.
I'll never forget it because he sort of dusts her off and obviously we had something.''
The pair courted for six years before marrying in 1932.
"He was keen on studying which I encouraged because I thought it was very responsible to have someone that would work out there and take exams to better himself,'' Mrs Osmond said.
Mr Osmond's work as a valuer led the pair around the country, including moving the family to London in 1944 during World War Two.
The couple's children, Jeff and Val, left home during the late 1950s for study and marriage, with Mr and Mrs Osmond moving to the-then British Honduras for a couple of years.
Returning to England, Mrs Osmond and her husband had trouble settling back into London life, when Mr Osmond was offered a job in Australia by a friend visiting from Canberra.
"They were out at lunch together and he mentioned they were out (in Australia) and said `we need people like you out there','' Mrs Osmond said.
With their daughter Val (Toomey) now living in Redcliffs, the couple decided to make the big move and relocated to Adelaide.
The move to Australia proved somewhat of a culture shock for Mrs Osmond, who recalled many amusing instances of confusion in the early months of the move.
"I remember I'd been invited to a party and they said bring a plate. And I thought well, that's a funny thing to say,'' Mrs Osmond said.
"I didn't know who to ask what it meant until I got there and realised what it was.''
After settling into Australian life, Mrs Osmond joined the Victoria League, an organisation which helped fellow settlers establish themselves in their new country.
The move to Australia introduced Mrs Osmond to one of her great loves in life - lawn bowls.
Her first brush with the sport occurred in Adelaide, where Mrs Osmond recalls asking her daughter what was happening to make people wear long white dresses and stockings.
The couple moved to Port Noarlunga, with one of Mrs Osmond's Adelaide friends giving her the number of someone to contact once in the new town.
The pair met for coffee, and Mrs Osmond was encouraged to attend the local bowls club's opening day.
"So I went and I picked up a bowl and I thought, `there's something about this', so I joined,'' Mrs Osmond said.
Her love of bowls proved pivotal to meeting new people, with Mrs Osmond visiting the bowls clubs in every town she moved to.
"I never regretted it, because wherever you go you can always join a (bowls) club and they're a nice lot of people,'' Mrs Osmond said.
"I've often said that anyone who goes to a new country or another town, if they are able to, if they join something it's the best thing in the world to help you settle down.''
Mr Osmond retired in 1967, with the couple spending plenty of time travelling the world.
"By this time we had lots of friends around the world, particularly in America, so we went to wherever his friends were,'' Mrs Osmond said.
Their travels took them to places such as South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and Spain.
One of the highlights of her travels occurred when American friends working with an oil company struck oil in Alexandria.
"They took us out and that day they struck oil,'' Mrs Osmond said.
"I'll never forget it, the excitement.''
Following her husband's death in 1976, Mrs Osmond returned to England for a few years, before settling in Ararat in 1983.
Bowls became a big part of life in Ararat, with Mrs Osmond playing at the Ararat Bowling Club and winning a pairs' tournament in 1995.
Travel remained a keen pastime, with Mrs Osmond and her daughter Val travelling for the last 20 years.
Her last big trip to England was in 2002, while only two years ago she boarded a plane with her daughter-in-law to visit her son Jeff in Thailand for a few weeks.
Mrs Osmond will celebrate her 100th birthday tomorrow at the Ararat Retirement Village, where she lives in one of the independent units, taking a cake over to the hostel and joining in with the day's activities.
Both of Mrs Osmond's children and the majority of her eight grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren will celebrate the big achievement with a special family lunch on Saturday, with most travelling from interstate and overseas.
Her secret for reaching triple figures?
"I don't know what the secret is, I have broken all the rules,'' Mrs Osmond said.
While trying to keep a balanced diet, the only vegetables Mrs Osmond eats are potatoes.
Good genes may play a part, with Mrs Osmond's grandmother living to 94, while her grandmother's great aunt just missed the 100 year milestone.
"I remember thinking when I was 90 that was pretty good,'' Mrs Osmond said.
"I don't feel that I could have done anything wonderful, it's just happened, it's luck.''
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