About

Okay, picture this: it’s early 1940-something and a crowd of polite (because they were all polite back then, you know) and excited young men and women are converging on the Palais de Danse on the foreshore of St Kilda in Melbourne. Among them are Edgar and Betty, a couple of young love-birds who had met a year beforehand when Edgar hit Betty on the bottom with a golf ball during a game.  Accidentally of course!

Betty has set her light brown hair into soft curls and is wearing sheer stockings and a new dress.  She is carrying a small handbag with face powder, lipstick, a touch of blush, a hankie and some small coins. Edgar looks handsome in his suit.  They enter the dance hall and their stilted shyness of a few moments before falls away as Edgar pulls Betty gently onto the dance floor.  Red-cheeked with excitement and love they dance the evening away, oblivious to the looming war that will take Edgar overseas for 7 long years fighting in Africa and Italy.

For now, though, they are caught up in the moment.  For now all they feel is the joy of each other as they whirl and twirl across the dance floor.  For now all that matters is twirling Betty.

For me, creating things is like a tangible thread that links the generations of women in our family. My great-grandmother was a dressmaker and tailor, Betty a talented painter and prolific knitter and my mum paints, knits, and quilts.  Each time I sew or make something new I think about this creative thread running through the generations and, in a sense,  it brings those marvellous women back to life for a moment.

In case you were wondering, Edgar made it home to marry Betty who gave him 3 bonny babies and 50 odd years of wedded bliss.  Romantic, yes?  Sigh.

As for me, I could never compete with such a  romantic story but I can’t leave you with nothing so I will tell you I live in Melbourne with my eternally supportive and handsome husband and have chucked away my life as a lawyer to raise my 2 girls and make stuff.  I’m much happier this way. The funny thing is, until very recently I’d never really thought of myself as a creative person at all.  Discovering that I do have the creative gene that I had assumed had skipped me has been exciting.

Other things I love are reading, languages, food and Italy.  We lived in Rome for three years and I had my first baby there.  This was a defining period in my life and I remain completely, totally and utterly in love with all things Italian.

Thanks for popping in and if you would like to ask me something, do feel free to send me an email at christen[at]twirlingbetty[dot]com[dot]au

(Just replace the [at] with @ and [dot] with . )

And in case you’re wondering (I always do when I visit other blogs) the first picture is what I normally look like. The second what I very occasionally look like ie, with make up and hair brushed!