Location: Home Sweet Home, Grampound Road
Photographer: Rowena Castillo Nicholls Videographer: Rob Nicholls HAPPY NEW YEAR TO MY FAMILY, RELATIVES and FRIENDS!!! It’s been an enjoyable evening. Just me and Rob. We had our midnight dinner. Our 1st starter was LENTIL SOUP. Our 2nd starter was POMEGRANATE and CLEMENTINE salad. Our 1st main course was NOODLES with PORK and CABBAGE. Our 2nd main course was ROAST PORK and WILD RICE. We're sooo stuffed. We could not manage to eat the dessert. No more space in our tummy. We'll just have the CHOCOLATE CAKE, CHOCOLATE MOUSSE, MACARONI SALAD and the ULTIMATE CHEESEBOARD today. We’ll just be chilling out at home and we’ll continue eating the rest of our food. Yum yum yum… I have 13 different kinds of ROUND-SHAPED FRUIT on my fruits tray. In the Philippines, 13 round fruits are traditionally are eaten on New Year’s Day since 13 is considered a lucky numbers. The best part is that fruits are filled with lots of vitamins and nutrients and can also protect against certain types of cancer. LENTIL is for luck. With their coin-like appearance, lentils are a natural symbol for luck. BLACK-EYED PEAS is for success. Black-eyed peas represent success because each pea represents a coin and a whole serving equals prosperity. PORK is for progress. Eating pork on New Year's Day symbolizes progress in several countries, as the pig is known for pushing forward. NOODLES is for longevity. A long noodle represents a long life. CABBAGE is for prosperity. Greens of any sort symbolize the almighty dollar. Have some cabbage and prosper in the New Year. POMEGRANATE is for good health. With so many delicious seeds inside a pomegranate, it's easy to understand how it represents an abundance of health, fertility and prosperity. ORANGES is for abundance. The Chinese culture considers oranges to represent good fortune, wealth and gold. In addition, oranges naturally ripen this time of the year, so you'll also enjoy an abundance of vitamin C. GRAPES is for happiness. Try the Spanish and Portuguese tradition of eating 12 grapes at midnight on New Year's Eve - sweet ones supposedly lead to 12 happy months. Gold, Yellow and Brown are the colours for 2017, the year of the rooster.
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Breney Common Nature Reserve Drift Reservoir Cabilla Woods Nature Reserve Photographer: Rowena Castillo Nicholls Videographer: Rob Nicholls "My 2016 Spectacular Wildlife Sightings in Cornwall" - DALMATIAN PELICAN, LAMMERGEIER, the bearded vulture, Heath Fritillary ABERRATION, Roseland pair had produced 3 CHOUGHLINGS and Silver-washed Fritillary VALESINA. 8th October 2016: The Cornwall Chough Watch Team won the RSPB's President Award. Me, Rob Nicholls and Mark Hayhurst went up to the International Convention Centre in Birmingham to received the RSPB's President Award in behalf of the Cornwall Chough Watch Team during the 125th Annual General Meeting of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds 25th July 2016: Went to Cabilla and Redrice Woods Nature Reserve and saw the 1x Silver-washed Fritillary VALESINA. 3rd July 2016: The Roseland pair had produced 3 choughlings and fledged. The last Chough seen around this area was in the 1820’s, which was 200 years ago. 2016 has been record breaking in the “CHOUGH WORLD"! There’s 23 choughlets in total. 6th June 2016: Went to Greenscoombe Woods Nature Reserve and saw 2x Heath Fritillary aberration (at first, I thought I only saw one but when I went through my photos on my computer when I got home, that's when I realize I have two). 23rd May 2016: Sooo lucky to be the "FIRST" one to have seen and photographed the LAMMERGEIER, the bearded vulture in Helman Tor. 16th May 2016: Went to Drift Reservoir and saw the DALMATIAN PELICAN. Location:
Pendower Beach, Roseland Peninsula Home Sweet Home, Grampound Road Photographer: Rowena Castillo Nicholls Videographer: Rob Nicholls Went for a lovely walk in Pendower Beach with Kate today. Such a lovely weather. Sooo bright and sunny. We saw quite a few sea birds and a carcass of a young dolphin on the beach. After our lovely walk, we went back home to have dinner with Kate, Simon and Marc. Location: Home Sweet Home, Grampound Road
Photographer: Rowena Castillo Nicholls Videographer: Rob Nicholls Merry Christmas to one and all... Yehey it's Christmas day! I can now open my gifts! Thank you to everyone who sent me messages, cards and most especially to those who sent me these lovely gifts. Your thoughtfulness is much appreciated. Me and Rob had been busy cooking and preparing our Christmas dinner. It's so much fun doing it together. We're like kids playing. We thought we should do this every weekend. Hahaha... For starters, I had prawn cocktail with mary rose sauce and Rob had baked camembert with rosemary and honey plus garlic bread. For our mains, we both had my succulent, moist and juicy roast turkey with all the trimmings. I must say that my roast turkey is simply the best. For dessert... we're supposed to have... chocolate bombe for me and Christmas pudding for Rob but we're already sooo stuffed that we decided to have it later on. After all day, comes the best part - opening of gifts!!! Thank you to everyone who gave me some lovely pressie. My gorgeous stepdaughter Anna and Becky plus their friend Nick came over in the evening. We all had dinner together and some drinks too. It's really great to see them on this special day. We even had an enjoyable game of scrabble on which I won. Location: Home Sweet Home, Grampound Road
Photographer: Rowena Castillo Nicholls Videographer: Rob Nicholls Nochebuena is the Spanish word for Christmas Eve. In Spain, Latin America, and the Philippines, the evening consists of a traditional family dinner. In the Philippines, the traditional dinner comes at midnight after the family hears the late evening Mass known as Misa de Aguinaldo. For our Noche Buena, I've cooked a honey-glazed Ham with with pineapple and cherry, homemade apple sauce, wholemeal Da Bara bread, pickled chestnut, onion and beetroot, green and black olives, a luscious cheeseboard, macaroons, assorted pies, loads of different variety of fruits and a lot more... We had a feast!!! Location: Home Sweet Home, Grampound Road
Photographer: Rowena Castillo Nicholls Videographer: Rob Nicholls A few more hours and we're celebrating Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ, our Saviour. The Castillo-Nicholls home is ready for the celebration. My dinner table is now set. Cheese board are all laid on the board plus biscuit, chutney, piccalilli, pate and pickles. Fruits are all in the basket and tray. Mixed nuts are on a jar and basket. Pastries and cake are on the tray. Mince Pie are on a plate. Got a gingerbread house too. My ham is now roasting in the oven. My turkey and lamb are marinating in the fridge. Wine, beer, cider and champagne are now cooling in the fridge. My Christmas tree outside is twinkling. Ohhh sooo excited! But it would have been best if I am with my family - mommy Angie Castillo, daddy Leon Castillo, brother Russel Castillo, sis-in-law Myla Castillo, nephew Gabriel Angelo and Miguel Angelo and sistah Rachel Castillo. How I miss you sooo much most especially at this time. Love you loads. Hope next year we are all together. Location:
St Just in Roseland Church, Roseland Peninsula The Quarterdeck, Nare Hotel, Roseland Peninsula Home Sweet Home, Grampound Road Photographer: Rowena Castillo Nicholls Videographer: Rob Nicholls Happy 7th Wedding Anniversary my dear Rob Nicholls!!! I love you for your thoughtfulness… Your understanding way… And for the countless little things you do for me each day… I love you for the hopes and dreams you’ve helped to make come true… But most of all I love you for just being you… With all my love, today and always... To start our 7th Wedding Anniversary celebration, we went to our favourite church, St Just in Roseland Church, to thank God for blessing us with a wonderful life and for keeping us together despite our cultural differences and our love for each other to keep going stronger each day. To celebrate our 7th Wedding Anniversary, we had a meal at our favourite restaurant, The Quarterdeck at The Nare Hotel. For starters, I'm having a "braised pig's cheeks with red wine lentils, pancetta and sage" while Rob is having a "creamy wild mushroom with poached eggs and roasted brioche". For mains, I'm having a "corn fed chicken breast, sticky shallots, rainbow chard, carrot puree and tarragon croquette" while Rob is having a "fish cake with rocket salad, tartar sauce and frites". For dessert, I'm having a "honeycomb cheesecake with oat crumble and lemon/thyme sorbet" while Rob is having a "roasted plums with candied almonds and vanilla sorbet". The food is sooo lushed! Superb! After that lushed and superb 3 course meal, a lovely cup of coffee is just what we need while relaxing and watching the amazing stormy sea. To end our celebration, we had an anniversary cake for us. We went home and loads of presents awaits for both of us! Yipeee! Hooray! |
Rowena
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