Sprightly Betty Paxton, who celebrates her 100th birthday next week, has revealed the secret to her good health – she is the baby of the family.
For Betty is a mere youngster compared to her sister, Jean Campbell, who reached 105 in June.
The two sisters, who live in Oban, and get together for "a wee sherry and a blether" every afternoon, say the secret of their long lives is hard work.
Jean added: "I didn't eat rubbish when I was young. I have always had a solid meal. And I have no hatred in my heart for anything."
She says the importance of hard work was drummed into them at a very early age. Betty, who turns 100 on December 30, said: "Our father was a farmer and we are two of seven sisters. There were no boys in the family so we had to work on the farm like the men.
"We had cows to milk and we used to make butter to sell. And we all had to walk three miles to school and three miles back."
But it was a life that did none of the sisters any harm, said Betty, adding: "All our sisters, except for my twin, Gracie –who died at 79 – lived until they were in their nineties."
Born near Craignish, in Mid Argyll, the family moved to North Connel, near Oban, in 1914.
Betty said: "I remember the men coming round looking for soldiers, but if you were a one-man farm you weren't touched."
The sisters have lived through two world wars, have witnessed women getting the vote and the introduction of a barrage of new technology.
Betty said: "I think it is a better world now – it's an easier life."
Joining Betty for her 100th birthday celebrations in Oban will be her three children and their families, who will journey from their homes in New Zealand, Switzerland, Australia and the Lake District
In the meantime, she has the constant companionship of her older sister. She said: "It's great to have her, it's wonderful." And Jean added: "It's nice that there are the two of us."
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