borlotti 2, warm hands, spider

The borlotti beans have swollen and the white embryo seeds become speckled like eggs. The blotches on the green skins look like clouds at sunset.

Outside a pub is a notice which says "wave hands here for heat". I wave my hands beneath it, believing that it will work like those hand dryers in public lavatories, which blow warm air downwards on your wet hands. Nothing happens until I feel heat from above my head, and look up to see a radiant heater on the wall. A box for cigarette ends confirms that this is a facility for smokers driven out of doors by the law.

Stretching across the open door of the greenhouse this morning is a large web, beautifully woven and symmetrical. At its centre, is an important looking spider.

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