A centenarian has written a poem to express her surprise at reaching 100 years of age.

Eva Spooner, who still lives independently in South Woodham Ferrers, was born in the First World War and married in the Second.

She remembers the hard times over the years when she used rations of baby powder to make apple pudding and described it as a “very simple life” back then.

Mrs Spooner used to have poem writing competitions with her late husband, Len, and still enjoys writing to this day.

 

I can’t believe it happened

It simply can’t be true

A miracle that I’m still here

Among a crowd like you

I must be a tough old bird

A few problems along the way

But you carry on regardless

And there’s nothing else to say

And as I look around me

What do I see?

A large, fantastic family

And they all belong to me