Muriel Ethel (Dingle) Gauntlett is celebrating her 100th birthday with friends and family today at the Westmeath rest home.

Mrs. Gauntlett was born in Oxford, England in 1908.

In addition to her three children and their families who live in Bermuda, her daughter from England and two of her grand-daughters and a great grand-daughter who live in the United States will also be present for this very special occasion.

Muriel has been known all her life as 'Bubbles', a name her father gave her as a child.

She had a sister, Doris, who was two years older, and the sisters and their parents Aylward (Captain A.E.) and Marion Dingle, moved from Oxford, England to Staten Island, New York when Bubbles was about two years old.

She has fond memories of her time in New York as a small girl, where her father pursued his career as an author of novels and magazine articles about the sea which he wrote under the name of "Captain Dingle" or "Sinbad".

These were well received at the time, and apart from hardships during wartime, provided a good living for the family.

However, in 1918, Captain Dingle became weary of trying to make a comfortable life for his family in a climate that was bitterly cold in the winter, often without the means to heat his home because of war-time shortages of fuel.

He began to long for a warmer, gentler climate in which to work and raise his family, and on August 13, 1918 he set sail for Bermuda in his small boat The Gauntlet, its name later having great significance in Bubbles's life.

Captain Dingle made his solo voyage to Bermuda accompanied only by his dog Trixie, and is believed to be the first man to have sailed this route single-handedly.

He reached Bermuda on September 9, much to the relief of his anxious family who had travelled to Bermuda a few weeks prior to this voyage on a converted destroyer.

Captain Dingle was near starvation when he was towed into Hamilton Harbour by the American Coast Guard, after enduring the most extreme hurricane conditions at sea which blew him off course, causing great delay and hardship that nearly took his life.

The Dingle family first lived in a little cottage on Hamilton Harbour near the Princess Hotel, and Captain Dingle did much of his writing on Marshall's Island.

Bubbles and her sister Doris attended the Bermuda High School for Girls, where she excelled in English and had an exceptional ability to memorise poetry.

She also achieved recognition for her beautiful handwriting, winning first prize in the Agricultural Show of the time for her handwriting of The Lord's Prayer and a pencil drawing of a German shepherd dog's head.

When the sisters left school, each obtained employment in Hamilton; Bubbles at Wadson's, which at that time sold bicycles, record albums and various gardening supplies, and Doris as a milliner.

Bubbles was employed for most of her married life while raising her four children, and her last place of employment was the Corporation of Hamilton, where her beautiful handwriting was greatly admired in her record keeping.

By the most amazing coincidence, Bubbles met Ernest Gauntlett and married him in June of 1930, a marriage which lasted 65 years.

During their long life together they loved to travel, greatly enjoying their many ocean voyages to far-away places.

Neither of them ever learned to drive, but that did not stop them from frequent bus rides to various parts of Bermuda, and especially to Henry VIII, where they were regular weekly visitors for Sunday brunch.

They had their own table reserved for them each week and were loved and pampered by the staff.

Bubbles and Ernest have four children, Betty Daly, Janet Percy, Judith Wilke and Ted Gauntlett, who have provided them with a total of nine grand-children, and Bubbles now has 14 great-grandchildren.

Bubbles and Ernest lived for several years at Oxford Cottage on Sharon Lane, Pembroke.

As the years went by, it became necessary for them to have nursing care, so they were moved to the Packwood Home in Somerset, where they lived until Ernest passed away in March of 1995 at the age of 91.

Bubbles then moved to Westmeath in September of 1997, where she lived happily for several years in Room 12 of the Residential Wing, greatly enjoying her small private room with balcony where she could care for her many potted plants, her favourite being scarlet red geraniums.

She remained fairly independent and able to care for herself, and loved to listen to book and music tapes, and enjoyed many visits from friends and family.

Sadly, Bubbles suffered a stroke at the end of September, 2006.

It was no longer possible for her to care for herself in her own room, and after a hospital stay of about three months and a short stay at Packwood, Bubbles moved back to Westmeath in the Nursing Wing in January of 2007, where she still resides.

A few years ago Bubbles became interested in Diane Kirwin's International Relief Foundation, known as KIRF, which assists the poor people of Bodhgaya, India.

She made more than 15 beautiful afghans for the people of Bodhgaya from 2002 until August of 2006 when she turned 98.

It gave her tremendous pleasure to sit and work on her afghans for India, always spurred on to finish them in time to present them to Diane on her annual October visits to Bermuda.

She was half way through one of these afghans when she had a stroke at the end of September 2006, and was no longer able to continue with her project, but family members and carers took turns working on this final afghan until it was finished.

Bubbles was especially keen to help those with vision problems, as that had been her own personal challenge throughout her long life.

Bubbles enjoyed an early 100th birthday party given for her by Westmeath staff on July 24th, when several residents read some of her favourite poems, and those in attendance were amazed to hear Bubbles recite perfectly the well-know poem 'Daffodils' by Wordsworth.

Bubbles and her fellow residents were also entertained with a lovely programme of live music.