October 2, 2025

Spring cleaning

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With a completed draft of my book emailed to my wonderful mentor before heading off on our NT trip in early July, the intention was to tackle a lengthy list of tasks on my To Do list when we returned. A broken wrist suffered while we were away put the kybosh on that idea - full details in an earlier blog post - but with that now on the mend I can finally tick off one item on that list: cleaning out our large walk-in pantry.


A couple of wet days this week ensured I was able to enlist John's help to clean the top shelves, and avoid multiple trips up and down the stepladder. The pantry is amazing and was clearly designed to house bottles and jars of processed produce grown by previous owners in what is now our large vegie garden. But while we certainly grow a few vegies, and berry fruits, I am not into bottling and preserving. Freezing stuff is more my style and John is the jam-maker - he's the one that eats it - so after dispensing with a pile of jars, plastic containers of various sizes, and bit and pieces we are never likely to use again, the pantry is under control - and clean and tidy.


Next on the list is to sort the linen cupboard and - sigh - culling a bookshelf or two. That will not be easy but there are definitely some books I'll not read again, that have had their day so far as a place on my bookshelves are concerned, and need to be appreciated by someone else.


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Strange and Marvellous Things

By Anne Layton-Bennett • October 27, 2025
Well done to the north-west Tasmania branch of Fellowship of Australian Writers . Once again their editorial team led by Allan Jamieson have produced an excellent anthology, with the intriguing title – as above – and an undeniably quirky cover. The rather wonderful octopus is just one of the creatures on it, indicating a watery theme until your eyes pick out the morose-looking frog, sporting what appears to be a death-cap toadstool hat, and a moustachioed chap apparently hitching a ride to work on a magpie. They all suggest an intriguing mix of writing to be explored within. I appreciate I’m a little biased in promoting this collection of stories, memoirs, poems, anecdotes and travelogues of far-flung places, since I've got work included, but after my copies arrived in the post last week, and from dipping into the book already, it really does look like another interesting and eclectic read – as FAWNW’s previous anthologies have proved to be. Tasmania is definitely not short of some talented writers, even if all of them don't necessarily have a published book to their name. Neither do I as yet, but with my magnum opus finally completed, and currently being strategically submitted to publishers that are ones most likely to be interested going on their previous publications, my fingers are firmly crossed. For a first-time author I knew this part would be difficult, as well as time-consuming given the lengthy delays before possibly receiving that much anticipated email or phone call - or not if the six- eight- or ten-week deadline is reached with no news at all - but hoping that with Dr Bob Brown on-side and putting in a good word when and where he is able to do so, my submission will be plucked from the pile sent by other hopefuls. Then it will be a case of hoping it will spark enough interest to ask for a publisher asking to see the full manuscript. Strange and Marvellous Things (edited by Allan Jamieson, FAWNW) 2025 is available online or at good bookshops. RRP $25.00

Windy dog walks

By Anne Layton-Bennett • October 12, 2025
Tasmania's wild and windy weather has been more severe than usual this October, making dog walking more of a challenge, and less pleasurable than usual.

Book review: 90 Seconds to Midnight

By Anne Layton-Bennett • September 17, 2025
Book review of the biography of Japanese woman Setsuko Thurlow Namajura - a Hiroshima urvivor who dedicated her life to ending the use of nuclear weapons.

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