Anne Layton-Bennett

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By Anne Layton-Bennett 06 Mar, 2024
Tasmania's 2024 state election campaign
a beagle dog is standing next to a bush of flowers .
By Anne Layton-Bennett 02 Feb, 2024
After deciding it was time to welcome a new dog into our lives we visited the Dogs Home at the weekend to see if the only female dog available might fit the bill. We’ve only ever had female dogs and the one called JD, a kelpie X sounded ideal. Even the name seemed a good... Read more »
By Anne Layton-Bennett 05 Jan, 2024
The start of a new year seemed like a good moment to overhaul and refresh this website, so renovations are currently underway. Or should that be reconstruction? Whatever, the winds of change are blowing through this site and the new and improved version is coming soon. Watch this space, as they say!
By Anne Layton-Bennett 12 Dec, 2023
. . . . for the wildlife to move in once they realised there was no dog patrolling the property any longer. The smarter ones realised Della dog had been no real threat for some time, but had still remained wary – just in case. Their boldness increased once the penny dropped she was no... Read more »
By Anne Layton-Bennett 12 Oct, 2023
Della came into our lives as a rescue dog in December 2013. She’d been found wandering the streets by the RSPCA, and was thin, starved and had clearly been a victim of abuse. She was thought to be approximately eight months old. When we first decided it was time to welcome a new dog into... Read more »
By Anne Layton-Bennett 24 Sep, 2023
The ugliness of those dissenting voices in the Referendum for the Voice has been brewing from the start but with three weeks to go it’s escalated. The Referendum has exposed a division that was certainly there, but which seems to have grown like a many-headed Hydra. It’s been politically hijacked by the federal Opposition, and... Read more »
By Anne Layton-Bennett 10 Sep, 2023
All those who have a companion animal in their life, be it dog, cat, rabbit, horse or sheep, is fully aware that animal is likely to depart this planet before they do. I’ve buried several dogs and cats, and a couple of rabbits, and it doesn’t get any easier when it’s time to say goodbye.... Read more »
By Anne Layton-Bennett 13 Aug, 2023
When I started this blog I was determined not to make it too political. The website was to remain – mostly anyway – an activist-free zone. But it’s hard sometimes. I’m not sure what it is about Tasmania but all too often its people tear themselves apart over controversial issues. So far, since I’ve lived... Read more »
By Anne Layton-Bennett 24 Jul, 2023
We first noticed the arrival of a pair of turtle doves on our property around three years ago. Since I knew the species isn’t native to Tasmania I wondered where they’d come from. Their distinctive cooing call reminded me of visits to my grandmother’s home in the south of England when growing up. The birds... Read more »
By Anne Layton-Bennett 06 Jun, 2023
The UK’s squirrels have been immortalised in Beatrix Potter’s ‘Squirrel Nutkin’, as well as in numerous Christmas cards with the traditional snow-covered landscapes, as they nibble on their hidden cache of nuts. These are Britain’s native red squirrels though, a species that has disappeared from many regions across the country since the introduction of North... Read more »
By Anne Layton-Bennett 11 May, 2023
It’s no secret that the British are a nation of dog lovers. So back in the land of my birth for the first time in four years (thanks to Covid) it hasn’t taken long to resume by morning walks with Lexie – a rescue dog like our own Della – owned by my niece’s family.... Read more »
By Anne Layton-Bennett 23 Apr, 2023
We are frequently reminded about the importance of bees when it comes to pollinating flowers, vegetables and fruits. But while most people these days are aware of the critical role bees play in pollination, birds are just as crucial and many bird species are struggling to survive. Climate change is a threat for birds globally,... Read more »
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