Bottle

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I had bought the bottles from a second hand shop in the local market. The wily shopkeeper, seeing an inexperienced young person excited at finding what she was looking for, charged me more than what the bottles were worth. Anyway who wanted old bottles? A person like me only. They were lovely bottles in various shapes, and sizes. I needed them for my money plants. I had one in the kitchen, and the others found their way to the bathrooms. I would change the water periodically. 

When the roots became unsightly, or the bottles started having build up of water marks, I would clean the bottles first, then put in a new one, cut from the money plants in the verandah. There is a time and place for everything. Gradually I gave up keeping the bottled plants. It had become added work for me.

I tried my hand at growing a green wonderland in a bottle, after reading about it.  I didn’t had the requisite tools, or whatever, it wasn’t a success. The bottle was murky with the soil I had put in. I didn’t even had the proper plants. The ones I had pushed in withered in no time. Disgusted  with the effort, I threw the bottle, and all in the dustbin. 

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DAILY PROMPT

Bottle

Write a new post in response to today’s one-word prompt.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/bottle/

Strawberries And Cream

Last week, I visited our village. I brought back with me fresh strawberries from the fields. My brother and neighbors were delighted when I sent them the fruit. The thing was, it was fresh and larger than the market variety.

Equal amount of sliced strawberries and whipped cream makes a nice dessert when it is chilled properly. I simply love it. My favorite is strawberry jam. Way back I used to make a huge amount to last us a year long. I would sterilize the bottles and store the prepared jam. Now, I take an easy way. Suppose it is four cups strawberries, I add two cups sugar to it. Add to it the juice of two lemons plus half a cup of water. Put the pot on slow heat till the sugar melts. Increase the heat so that it is bubbling. Keep stirring (I suddenly remembered this part) till it reduces slightly, or the consistency you want. Add one table spoon butter to bring a sheen to it. Another second or two and take it off the cooker. Pour it into a clean jar and after it cools put it in the fridge.

Its mouth watering and a million times better than the store brought variety. The plus point, it’s free of preservatives.