October has been a busy month for staff at the Amberley Rest Home as they held not one, but three, parties for residents turning 100, or more.
Centenarian Joy Forbes celebrated her 102nd birthday while Noella Farquhar and Joan Parsons celebrated their 100th birthdays with families and friends.
Joy Forbes (nee McEwan) is a well-known local identity who believes life is special, and she has just one piece of advice for all — get off your butts and embrace it.
The Amberley resident says the secret to her longevity is healthy living, eating, and being on the move.
Born on October 11, 1924, on the banks of the Waikato River near Hamilton, she moved to Christchurch when she married William (Bill) Forbes.
Her passion for gardening and stage musicals kept her busy for many years, and she often appeared in local newspapers, leading productions, sewing all the costumes by hand and enjoying the music.
Dancing has remained a passion for Joy, and once her children had grown up and moved away, Joy started to realise her passion for travelling.
‘‘Bill paid for it all but never came on any of my trips to England, Australia or America and Asia,’’ she says.
‘‘He wasn’t interested in travelling, so I went on my own. ‘‘Imagine me, a middle-aged mother travelling solo around the world.”
Now 102, she says she's only slowed down a little bit, spending her days reading and walking about the gardens at the Rest Home.
"I’ve lived every day of my life,” she says.
Joan Parsons (nee Sawerson) was born in Blackpool on October 21, 1926, and her father was a watchmaker.
Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, Western England, north of Liverpool.
“It was a fun place growing up as there were many ballrooms and dancing halls there.
“I danced with airmen and soldiers all through the war years, but I had a strict 10 pm curfew set by my mum,” she says.
She met and married John, an architect, and the couple travelled first to Sydney, Australia, for work, then 14 years later emigrated to Christchurch.
Joan has been a resident at Amberley Rest home for 16 years and says she loves doing croquet and knitting, a skill she learnt from her mother who worked as a seamstress at the Hippodrome theatre in Blackpool.
Noella Farquhar (nee James) also turned 100 on October 12, and is from Leithfield.
She married Bonar Farquhar, and the couple had three children.
She looked after the family while Bonar worked the couple's large arable and sheep farm.
“Mum loved her embroidery and was a life member of the Christchurch Embroiderers Guild,” says her daughter Barbara.
“She still knits every day for herself and is always happy for her family to visit her.
“Her other passion was her extensive garden, which was on the must-see list for many enthusiasts and garden tours.”
Barbara remembers her mother always cooking for the shearers and farm workers and making some very good scones.