Life in a "project"

Living in a project,it is all to easy to forget progress. When we purchased the house, nearly sixteen years ago, this courtyard had a metre of soil in it and we did not know there were any flagstones there. For the first two years, our kitchen sink was in the courtyard. Washing up after Christmas lunch was a trifle chill.
Tonight we had neighbours around for apero. B,M&C are always good value with wide ranging (very French) conversation taking in Mr Macron, Edward III and opera.
I always took apero to be pre-prandial drinks. They arrived at around 7pm and left after 10pm! Somewhere a difference in understanding and culture.