Comments on: Adrienne….from the beginning

By: adriennedines

adriennedines — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 20:56:13 +0000

Goodness – what a day! Debbie Milne contacted me this morning thru the blog….from Hiroshima. It’s great to hear from you. I will contact you away from here and catch up more.
Nice to hear you’re happy in ‘Culter – Peter Thain told me you were there – and very popular.
Talk soon
Ax

By: Hilary Park

Hilary Park — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 18:37:35 +0000

Hello!
For some reason you popped in to my mind and I googled you! It led me here, so I just thought that I would send you a wee note! It was funny reading your blog! I does not seem like that long ago I was looking after Kieran and Tom and its also slightly scary to hear how old they now are!
It looks like your writing has really taken off, you must be delighted.
I am working at Culter school as a p7 teacher and I really love it there. I just got married in October to a Glasgow boy and we live in Milltimber so very handy for work and my folks.
Anyway, hope you are all well,

Hilary Park (Hyland)

By: Dave Carpenter

Dave Carpenter — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 13:14:13 +0000

Hi Adrienne,

Nice to catch up on how you’re doing and glad to hear that all is well with you. I’ve been meaning to write to you and thank you for the note you sent to my Mom after my Dad passed away last year but typically I lost your contact details!!!

Drop me a line on my e-mail address and hopefully we can hook up sometime when you’re next in Dublin.

Best

Dave

By: Adrienne

Adrienne — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 08:09:46 +0000

Cyril – How great to hear from you – yes, of course I remember. We were very healthy – all that hill walking on a Sunday….
Please send me your email address so I can write to you and catch up with all the news.

By: Cyril Southarewsky

Cyril Southarewsky — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 23:01:12 +0000

Hello Adrienne!
I don’t know if you remember me. I was french teatcher assistant in one of those schools where you were english teacher: Kincorth academy (Aberdeen) in 1985 1986. I am pleased to see that you are now a well known writer! (excuse my poor english, I remember that you called me Maurice Chevalier because of my horrible strong french accent)
I am still earing you telling me some words in french that you pretended it was the only one sentence your were able to say: “Le café est bon!”
You know, this year spent in Aberdeen with all those people (Pat Scott etc…) will always stays in my memory as a wonderfull time. I was a young clumsy french boy.
I would like to have more news about you, Tim, yours children. You will find my e.mail address.
I hope to read from you soon dear Adrienne.
Regards
Cyril

By: adriennedines

adriennedines — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 08:18:33 +0000

You can breathe again now.
So it turned out he wasn’t at all bad….
Within two years we were in Aberdeen and I was fast becoming an oil WAG – and not very good at it. To be good you have to
1) know what your husb/boyfriend’s ranking is and be very impressed by the WAGS of the higher uppers;
2) play golf, squash or tennis;
3) drive a BMW.
We had a Land Rover, old and crunky and I had still to pass my driving test.

We organised teh wedding from there too. Talk about familial diplomacy (if you like). We had a practising Catholic bride, a non practising Anglician groom, a lasped Catholic best man, Catholic and Anglican bridesmaids and a Hindu groomsman. And a pair of prospective mothers-in-law wearing exactly the smae shade of turquoise…(my mistake, i was supposed to report back but got the colour wrong). En route to the wedding, travelling thru the Nth of Ireland we were stopped by the army at one chechpoint and some fellows in combat gear and heavy accents at another. Depending on whether they looked Unionist or IRA, one of us spoke.
(Do you need reminding at this point that TIm’s English , from Kent and I’m Irish?)

Then there was the dress. My mother in law made it and at the last minute added some details she loved. My own mother didn’t like the veil and made a new one the night before, and NOBODY thought to tell me that if you have hoops under the skirt, you’re supposed to have a frilly slip as well. I looked like something off Dr Who from the waist down.
And it rained, hailed and blew a gale.
But I still married him.

We honeymooned in Israel – great shots of me on the beach with a soldier with a large machine gun posing in the background. TIm couldn’t be in that photo – he was still blotchy from the large lady upwind of us who slathered herself in coconut oil and then lay back. The smell was overpowering;Tim’s allergic to nuts.

Then back to Aberdeen to try and get a teaching job. THere I was innocent young teacher whose only experience was in an English private school where the girls wer so fragrant that they didn’t even exude bodily odour. Supply teaching introduvced me to fellows whose families hadn’t been touched by soap (nor their ancestors by evolution) in years. Eventually, I got a job in the local comprehensive, Cults Academy , and I thought I’d gone to Heaven. I loved every second of it. The kids were bright, feisty and i’m still in touch with some of them. To get a permanent position I had to work there for two years unbroken so the headmaster made sure I covered every possible absence then on the second last day before the marker, I was given the boot. Compulsory Maternity leave. Thanks fate.

The maternity had been such a great teaching aid. Nobody dared upset me becasue I could conjure up a nosebleed at the first sign of untidy homework and the girls were broody and had lots of suggestions for names. I liked Conor – the boys said no, he’d be Con DInes to start with then CondOms was inevitable. I settled for Kieran..

When Kieran was nine months old I had news for Tim and he had news for me.
‘You first.’
‘I’m being sent offshore, what’s yours?’
‘I’m pregnant.’
So fo rthe next 16 years, we had a two week on two week off lifestyle
(imagine a long blue paragraph here….)
that ended this summer. It also facilitated what can only be termed the offshore BP method of family planning – our sons are 17,15, and 13.
!!

By: Snart

Snart — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 00:02:29 +0000

…and…? We wait with breaths held bated….