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She teaches two yoga classes, takes piano lessons and is qualified to teach flat water canoeing -- being 80 rocks!

All set to celebrate her 80th in December, Margot (Volsch) Morris of Riverside-Albert remains a force to be reckoned with.

Born in Hamburg, Germany, Margot grew up an only child. Her father was a musician so the family travelled a great deal, and some of her best memories were when they lived in Sweden from 1938 to 1939. They arrived back in Germany the night the war broke out, and their quality of life quickly deteriorated. Because of chronic shortages she "grew up hungry all the time." They lost their homes (and some friends and family) to bombs, and her father was killed in Russia.

Constant hardship pursued them, yet Margot was able to attend dancing and singing lessons because she had "always been fascinated by the stage."

Despite difficult circumstances, she recalls "a very nice childhood."

She married, and immigrated to Canada in 1952. Arriving in Halifax, they went on to settle in Toronto, but after living in a large European metropolis, found Canada at that time culturally bereft. Margot couldn't even find yogurt and brown bread!

But she did find a job at Bell Canada and proved to be a pioneer after smashing through the glass ceiling to get a job that was traditionally male. She paid the price though, and when it came time to advance "decided I didn't want to go through this again..."

So she left and became a self-employed theatrical agent. Although highly successful, after 17 years she left that very stressful business.

During her time in Toronto she raised a family: a daughter Vivian and a son Brian, and she now also has a granddaughter Sacha, a grandson Spencer, and a great-grandson Sebastien who will be five in June. Margot is also now "happily divorced."

She bought her present home in Riverside-Albert "unseen" while living in Toronto after meeting relatives of its then owner there. In 1989, she made the transition, moving to New Brunswick from Toronto, with its own set of adjustments -- and renovations. She also invested in several animal friends, including what came to be over a hundred show geese (she showed them and did very well), Raven the donkey (a guard animal that protected the geese from coyotes) and Sugar the Bashkir curly horse, company for Raven. However after urging from her children, she eventually gave up the animals (other than her dog, cat and budgie) because of carrying feed during icy winter conditions.

She still misses them. However, with a library of over 3,000 books, she's a passionate reader, and has tried unsuccessfully to establish a fencing club, debating club and an arts & literature club in her neighbourhood -- although her arts & entertainment club did meet with some success.

She attributes her longevity to proper diet (no candy and sweets during the war), keeping her life simple -- and staying active.

"I can't sit down in a rocking chair," says Margot with a smile, "and do nothing."

n Time of Your Life, stories of people 80 years and older who aren't letting age slow them down, appears each Tuesday in Life & Times. If you'd like to nominate an active senior for this series, please contact the newsroom at 859-4982; or e-mail the nominee's name and some background on the nominee to life@timestranscript.com; or fax to 859-4904.