pucker up

BB was working on the middle section of the roof today where there had previously been a fire - which was a bit scary. Or as he put it, "I did a lot of puckering" - and he wasn't talking about his lips! The last owner but one, Leon Viard, who was the grandson of the man who built the mill, went off to the pub one night after stoking his wood-burning stove and came back to find the building alight. This was about 15 years ago and as a result the front right-hand section of the mill was tarted up internally and had a new roof put on but the middle section - which was badly burnt - remained untouched.

I'm interested to know a bit more about the history of the mill so I've invited la famille Combet round for apéros tomorrow night. Grandfather Combet used to work with Leon here in the mill. I had to check the TV schedule first to make sure the apéro hour didn't clash with "Plus Belle La Vie" (the popular French soap) because the last time we were invited to theirs for a drink, the telly (which I was sitting directly in front of) came on promptly at 7 pm and the three women nearly broke their necks straining to see past me to watch the latest episode. I've also had to stock up on apéricubes (those disgusting artificially flavoured Dairylea cheese cubes) and mini hotdogs (which contain 90% turkey skin and beaks). For all the talk about the French eating well, they don't half like their junk food with the apéro.