Tres and I visit Napa Valley once a year. It's my favorite place on earth, and if I could, I would pack up and move there in a heartbeat. Last time we were there, sipping wine in the courtyard of one of the wineries, we decided if we ever owned a house, we would just turn our backyard into a little Napa. I mean, if you can't live there, you can at least pretend, right?!
When we found our new home, we completely hit the Napa look-alike jackpot. The backyard of our house is beautifully landscaped, complete with a rose garden, fountain, and pebble ground. It's colorful, intimate, and peaceful. Of course, we still have a lot of work to do on it - relay pebbles, replant missing shrubs around the trees, string lights for night parties - but to move into a house with a backyard that was practically perfect makes life a lot easier, particularly for us city folk with no background in gardening. The good news is, we have discovered Tres has quite the green thumb. He's really enjoyed planting and maintaining, which works great for me because it's not quite my thing. I tell him, you plant the stuff, I'll cook with it!"
To add to the loveliness, our friends, Ginger and James, built us a beautiful 12 person farmhouse table (I've only dreamed of one for years), and we have enjoyed numerous nights outside sipping wine, eating cheese, and chatting. The first night we had dinner out there, Tres said, "I really don't even feel like we are in Memphis. I feel like this is wine country." Mission accomplished!
View from the back door... And the kitchen!
A little sitting area
Beauties
Our farmhouse table, complete with Veuve and roses
More beauties
The grand entrance
As you walk in...
CHEERS TO BEAUTIFUL LIVING!!!