(Seychelles News Agency) - Seychelles oldest inhabitant, Nancy Marie celebrated her 108^th birthday last week in a special ceremony at her residence.

Surrounded by her two children -- Guy, 66, and Anne, 63 -- with several grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren, Marie expressed her joy for reaching yet another milestone as the eldest citizen in the country.

“Yes, I am very happy,” she told reporters.

Marie took the time to reminisce about the good times she spent on farms and plantations in her younger years, where she developed her love for agriculture.

“I grew vegetables such as tomatoes, eggplants, mangoes, sugar canes and oranges and I also worked in tea and coffee plantations,” she added.

Born on January 26, 1909 on Praslin, the second-most populated island, Marie, who lives at Ma Joie, is only two years from breaking the record for the oldest person of Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean.

The oldest Seychellois on record lived to 110, according to the Department of Social Affairs.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics figures of 2015, the average life expectancy for Seychellois women is 78.7 years and 70.1 for Seychellois men. 

Marie’s only daughter, Anne, with whom she lives, says that her mother can still take care of herself and even goes about her daily chores every day.

“When she wakes up in the morning the first thing she does is brew her tea and makes some for everybody else. She also cooks, especially when it comes to chicken, she likes to cook it herself,” said Anne.