A MONMOUTHSHIRE Housing Association (MHA) resident celebrated her 100th birthday last week.

Lily Stephens, who lives in Raglan, was presented with a bouquet of flowers at her home by the housing association and had two large gatherings with all 45 members of her family and a second celebration with 80 of her friends where a local choir sang for her.

Mrs Stephens has been with MHA since 1986 but previously lived on a farm near Brecon where she and her husband Wilf kept a variety of livestock.

She is described by staff as being witty with a quietly determined nature who is always positive, upbeat and chatty.

Emma Assender, of MHA, said Mrs Stephens’s favourite things to do are to spend time with her family and enjoys crochet.

She said: “Lily enjoys visits from friends, neighbours and family. When she retired she took up crochet and over two decades worked up 20 altar cloths, taking around a year each to create beautiful design for local churches.

“When her husband was alive they would spend a lot of time in the Scottish Highlands and while Wilf foraged for sticks to carve, Lily would crochet until she was needed to carry Wilf’s bundles. She still keeps a fine collection of his carved sticks to this day.”

Mrs Stephen’s said her secret to living a long life is “living a quiet life”.