Lunch and an unexpected road trip

I made an Italian stew today which turned out quite nicely, and I served it with mashed potatoes prepared with the potato ricer that I purchased for the recent Burns’ Supper at Newtonmore. I really like the consistency that the ricer gives. The occasion was Heather and Ewan coming for Sunday lunch. I was a bit disappointed with the look of the plum sponge dessert although the taste was good, and the least said about the overcooked broccoli the better! The company was of course excellent and I was pleased that Davie joined us for lunch too. It was still very windy and rainy, and half way through lunch, part of the fence between us and the Reids blew down, leaving a gaping hole.
Ally and Cat were meanwhile in Lancaster for the weekend; a halfway point between their abodes in Glasgow and London. I had heard on the news that Storm Ciara was disrupting travel all over the country but I didn’t realise just how badly until I got a call from Ally to say that all trains had been cancelled between Lancaster and Glasgow. Cat also could not get a train from Lancaster to London. Buses were few and far between. So after Heather and Ewan left, James and I jumped into the car and headed south to pick Ally and Cat up. Despite (or perhaps because of) the poor weather, the roads were quiet and we made very good progress; many of the field that we passed were flooded and rivers had burst their banks but the road conditions were not too bad. The round trip - I drove south and then Ally drove north) took less than five hours including a toilet stop and a stop for petrol. We had a pleasant chat in the car on the way home, and I was glad that we had made the journey. Davie very kindly cleared up all the dishes and washed the glasses while we were away.
I heard later that Alison and Hugh’s flights home from their trip to London were cancelled so they are having to spend an extra night there, and Marjory and Forrest’s train home from Warwick tomorrow may be delayed. Storm Ciara has certainly caused a lot of trouble. Apparently she will be heading to Scandinavia soon to wreak more havoc.