housesitting in napa

Friday after work, we drove up to Napa. It was a long work week for both Daniel and myself, so we spent a quiet evening at his parents house and went to bed early in anticipation of a busy Saturday.

Saturday started with French toast. Daniel's parents left us a loaf of cinnamon bread from ABC Bakery (heaven) and I made French toast with maple syrup and blueberries.

Willy, Daniel's family dog- a Weimaraner- behaved very well and kept his nose out of our breakfast. Daniel rewarded him with lots of pets and ice chips.

After breakfast, we took him down to Yountville for a walk. 

We walked by the French Laundry gardens and saw that they now appear to be raising chickens on the property.

The chickens were all very small with enormous fluffy feet. I'm not sure what kind of chicken that is, but they were amazing.

After walking around for a while, we decided to stop for lunch at the Oakville Grocery. 

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 After lunch, we headed back to the house and spent a few hours sunning ourselves out by the pool before going to meet our friends for a spot of wine tasting.

Rough life.

Dave and Lindsey (and their puppy) met us at Pine Ridge and we spent a few hours sitting out on their patio tasting various wines. The puppy slept under the table.

Dave and Lindsey got married in Sonoma last year and for their one-year anniversary, the bakery that made their wedding cake made them the top of the cake as a gift. We got to tag along and mooch some of the cake.

We made quick work of several slices of cake and then parted ways with Dave and Lindsey. We headed back to the house to drink more wine and I forced Daniel to watch The First Wives Club with me. At eight, we went out to dinner. I'd made reservations at Ad Hoc- neither of us had ever been- and it was fantastic. We brought a bottle of Heritance Cabernet Sauvignon from Daniel's father and let the courses wash over us. Frisee salad with figs, ham, and walnuts. Beef short ribs with garbanzo beans. Goat cheese with apples. Tres leches cake. It was one of those great meals you never want to end and we stretched it out as long as possible, lingering over glasses of tawny port and tokaji.

Afterwards we went home, wrapped ourselves in blankets, and sat out on the deck and stargazed. At this point I was feeling about ready to up and move to Napa. You can actually see the stars there! I love housesitting! 

It it was a perfect summer weekend.