Susan Dalgety

A woman’s place is in the Scottish Parliament

A week late, but you might still be interested in this piece that Kate Higgins and I wrote for the Scotsman. http://www.scotsman.com/news/comment-walker-by-election-can-be-watershed-1-3087740 And good luck to Cara Hilton, Labour’s candidate for the Dunfermline by-election. She will make a great MSP.

by Susan Dalgety

Okay, so it’s my birthday

I share a birthday with Sean Connery, probably the best ever Bond and one of Scotland’s few global icons; Jim Wallace, one of the UK’s nicest politicians and Elvis Costello, the best singer British songwriter alive today. So, what have I achieved in my first 57 years… Well I’ve made a lot of mistakes. Probably […]

by Susan Dalgety

Women on top

Dr Margaret Sutherland (r) and me (l) with Alice Harding Shackleford, UN Women’s country representative in Malawi. Fifteen good women (and one good bloke) had a great conversation yesterday in Glasgow, discussing gender equality, Malawi, patriarchy and, of course, the glorious sunshine. Little known fact. It was warmer yesterday in Blantyre, Scotland than Blantyre, Malawi.

by Susan Dalgety

Mindfulness, more than just another middle class fad

I have been a worrier all my life. One of my first memories is of being anxious. I have no idea what was the source of the anxiety that frightened me as a wee girl, but the stomach churning, self-doubting fear has plagued me since. But perhaps I am finding a way to stop worrying […]

by Susan Dalgety

Bowie: where are we now?

It was a tweet from his son Duncan Jones that alerted me – and quite a few thousand others, to the stunning news that David Bowie had made his first album for more than a decade. “Who wants to know a secret?” he teased at midnight New York time, 5.00 am here in the UK. […]

by Susan Dalgety

A recipe for disaster

642 Things to write about #6 I am not looking forward to 2013. Let me qualify that. I am looking forward to lots of things in 2013. Spending time with my grandchildren. Working in Malawi. Hopefully enjoying the Greek sunshine with my husband. Planting more lavender bushes. The occasional rummage round TK Maxx. Suppers with […]

by Susan Dalgety

The poorest I’ve ever been

642 Things to write about #5 Goodness me, the poorest I’ve ever been… I grew up in poverty. My father worked on farms. Ploughman was his job title, but he did far more. Animal husbandry. Crops. Managed staff. He was paid a pittance, his poverty wages supplemented by bags of potatoes and coal and the […]

by Susan Dalgety

I’m a Jack of all trades, we’ll be all right

642 Things to write about #4 Write a song…no chance. I can’t sing, so writing a song is a mysterious process that I have never attempted. And never will. I have never been tempted, not even when I was in the depths of despair over some failed romance (many, many years ago) and would relentlessly […]

by Susan Dalgety

My favourite recipe

Writing prompt #3 I don’t have a favourite recipe. I have favourite cook books. And my new favourite is Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. I always turn to Ottolenghi’s weekly recipe in the Guardian’s Saturday magazine, but had never really understood his magic until buying this book. He and his partner Tamimi put […]

by Susan Dalgety

Things I have learned about life

Today’s writing prompt from 642 Things To Write About is: Write an anonymous letter to a stranger detailing the things you’ve learned about life… Things I’ve learned about life…mmm, let me think…in no particular order: Don’t swear as much as I do. People often find it offensive. Money is over-rated, except when you don’t have […]