Through the Wire Mesh

I walked down the garden lane to the open potting shelter at the community allotment, pacing my steps with my walking stick. Resting against an overturned wooden crate sat a round garden sieve made of bent ash wood and woven wire mesh. Inside its shallow rim lay a dry scoop of mixed garden soil, rounded pea pebbles, and dark dried seed pods. Setting my stick against the bench leg, I gripped the curved wooden rim firmly with both paws. With steady, rhythmic turns from side to side, I sifted the dry earth until the powdery loam drifted away below, leaving clean, polished pebbles and glossy seeds rattling softly across the tight wire.