a lot of bottle

have a lot of bottle

To have the will to act boldly, to have a lot of nerve.

from Farlex Dictionary of Idioms

A box of empty (supposedly), quart preserving jars at the bottom of a cupboard had to be lugged out because, to our surprise, they contained a dozen bottles of preserved gooseberries from a 2019 vintage. We’re eleven down, squishing aged gooseberries between our breakfast teeth; soon, we’ll crack open the2020 harvest.

Last year June bottled two dozen quart jars: the four absent in the under a gooseberry bush picture the ones that didn’t seal. This year I’ll try and convince her to reign in such bold endeavours and be content with a dozen jars. The evidence of that ‘will to act boldly’ exposed when you open our cupboards. When it comes to preserves, “she’s got a lot of bottle”.

As I mentioned in Foraging for walnuts, my nickname for June was ‘Little Grey Squirrel’ – here’s the “lot of bottle” she’s got squirreled away for the two of us:

When it’s time to start preserving the harvest again, I’ll illustrate the method June uses to bottle fruit, tomato puree, tomato soup, and beetroot. In the meantime, it’s pretty much along the lines explained here: How to Preserve Fruit by Bottling – Country Trading Co.

That’s all on modern-day homesteading at Little Owl Gully till next Monday. Thanks for your company. Bye for now.