LIFE IN THE OLD DOG.

First things first - A huge thank you to JENN for designing this button for my blog. Something I've always wanted, I was delighted to receive it. To install it on your own blog simply see my sidebar for the code needed.

You know it occurred to me when typing this post just how objective age is. As a child I can remember thinking how 20 was quite old, 30 ancient and as for 40?

Funny how at 40+ I still feel like a youngster (mentally anyway, physically is a whole different matter) though I'm now beginning to have what some refer to as my 'senior moments'. You know the sort of thing - you go upstairs only to find yourself wondering why. You look everywhere for your glasses only to realise that they are there on the end of your nose. You go to the shops but what was it you wanted?

Anyway, I dedicate this post (nearly all of which proves 'there's life in the old dog yet'*) to all our more elderly friends.

* Lillian Doris Thompson, daughter of Blackpool's PLEASURE BEACH founder William Bean, tested every single new ride until her 101st birthday.

* Norfolk grandfather, Kevin Garwood, 60, has adapted oriental martial arts skills to give pensioners self-defense lessons ...... using their walking sticks.

* A 67-year-old pensioner is planning to sail from Wales to the Isle of Wight in a ..... giant pumpkin. Medwyn Williams is growing the 1,598lb vegetable, with six inch thick walls, and has called his vessel (What else but) HMV (Her Majesty's Vegetable) Cinderella.

* (How romantic is this?) Farmer Dick Kleis, 67, spelled out HAP B DAY LUV U in his top field in Iowa, USA, using 55 tons of manure for his wife's birthday present. Carole said it was the weirdest thing he'd ever done. Dick added "The good, soft, gushy, warm stuff works best."

* A 101-year-old woman is running in her council elections. Maria Donati's grandson, Roberto, wants to be major of Saludecio, Italy, and (as any grandmother would) she wants to support him. "He needs my help and experience." she says. Roberto is 62.

* A grandmother from Bristol has become a disc jockey (DJ) at 70. Widow Ruth Flowers who lives in France, has made a name for herself as alter ego 'Mamy Rock', headlining Paris nightclubs.

Not so 'lucky' was this other senior citizen.

* In the USA, hungry motorist Charles Pierce, 92, smashed through the window of the Biscuits And Gravy And More restaurant, when he mistook his accelerator for his brake pedal. (Bringing a whole new meanng to 'drive thru') staff let him have his breakfast before calling the police.

And I don't know if we can call this lucky or not.

* A 75-year-old nun from Glasgow, Scotland, abandoned as a baby by her circus act mum, was left a fortune and a ........ brothel by her. Selling the sex business, she donated the money to help children overseas.

* Another of my nana's infamous sayings meaning that though they may be old, they've still got energy to do things.