Being a Steward! - Rhubarb Ball 2017!

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of heading home to celebrate the annual event, The Rhubarb Show! Click here to watch the vlog or see below.

On Friday, I had a full day of lectures and hospital placements so when I got to Kings Cross Station I was well and truly ready to be back home. After the events of Storm Doris the day before, all trains to Leeds were cancelled and so the trains were still super busy and delayed. At first, the train was cancelled and then finally it came up but 30 minutes late. When the platform finally came up, everyone raised over to Platform 0. Of course, it would be the one that was furthest away.

If you have ever been to London, you'll know the mass of people that roam the streets, but I've never felt more crowded than when everyone rushes to a train that's only just been announced and about to leave in 2 minutes. Anyway, when I reached the train, I raised down to the top end of the train and to my dismay, Coach C was gone. It went straight from D to B and I was at a lost. Luckily, I saw a conductor who let me know that I had been moved to L. I raised back to the very start and jumped aboard. I couldn't even walk down through the carriages because it was so packed. Eventually, I made it, sat down and amazingly, I was upgraded free of charge to first class...albeit without the extra free all inclusive perks.

It was so nice to catch up with family when I got home, especially my little dogs. Oh how I miss them. Unfortunately, it was already 10pm so I headed to shower then painted my nails before bed. I set my alarm the next day, early. This year, both mum and I were the stewards of the competition. We headed over to the venue, the beautiful Rogerthorpe Manor Hotel. I headed in first to open it up and saw the table set up. When mum and Jess unloaded, we set up the competition area and labelled everything, before getting ready for all the entrants.

I remember growing up and baking so hard and so long, going for the most extreme and complicated entries in the attempts to win big. I love that I now get to give back and work in the behind-the-scene structure. I love organising, being organised and instructing organisation: it's a big passion of mine and always has been. So of course, instructing people what to do and making a process run smoothly is right up my alley.

Once the competition entries closed at 3pm, mum and I started setting up for the judges to come in. I am so sad that my camera's memory card somehow got wiped. I timelapsed all the judging and entries and thought it would make for a really interesting vlog but I can't find it anyway. Alas, I made do with what I had.

Judging always seemed to take forever growing up, especially waiting to see if I'd won, but this year, I had to check all the marking and write half the certificates so it was actually really nice to have something productive to do.

Then my uncle, the chairperson, came in to set up the rhubarb display to 'show it'. Traditionally, all of the rhubarb growers use to come and show their rhubarb and there was a competition of the est looking and tasting rhubarb sticks as well, but now it's just a food competition as our farm is the only one still really involved.

Here's a few of the entries. For those interested, the classes are in the captions below.

Best Stewed Rhubarb

Rhubarb Jam

Rhubarb Chutney

Rhubarb Drink

Rhubarb Cold Sweets

Rhubarb Savory Dish

Rhubarb Pie (flat plate)

Juniors

It is also the only night in the whole year that I stay in a hotel in the UK. They've recently redecorated all the bedrooms and it was so nice! I gave a quick room tour in the vlog.

Then I changed from my jeans and t-shirt look to ball ready. The evening involves a 4-course, sit down, served meal followed by prize giving and a dance. My friend Sarah was home from RAF training and so luckily she was able to come too. I wore my long black dress with gold sequins on the breast. I curled my hair with my Tresemme Curling wand (my favourite!) and then did my evening look from my post a while back, paired with a Kylie Jenner Lip Kit in King K Metallic - a beautiful gold.

It was so nice to see all my family, especially my cousins and to catch up with Sarah.

The next morning, after a very late evening, I was exhausted as we headed to breakfast. Reception had put out some beautiful flowers and I just had to snap a picture.

We also sneakily asked reception on checkout if we could have a look around the newly renovated rooms. Oh my! They were stunning. Huge and open planned, with private gardens and a beautiful countryside view.

Finally, to finish off my weekend at home, mum, Jess, grandma and I headed to The Rhubarb Triangle. It's a local pub-like restaurant near home that just happens to be linked to Rhubarb...mainly because it's located in the rhubarb triangle. Their desserts were amazing!

I definitely miss my mother and grandma!

Until next year...