puddleshark

My first visit to the tea room at the Blue Pool since the old owner, Miss B., died, and it was acquired by a big company specialising in tourist attractions. The tea was as nice as ever - good strong tea, made with an extra teabag for the pot, and a jug of hot water to top up. Max and I shared a scone, and the scone too was as fresh as the scones from Before.

But the staff in the tea room are much more cheerful than they were in the old days, and I found myself missing the quiet, melancholy, here-against-my-will air that the staff used to have whenever I visited on a rainy day.

Also, they now play loud upbeat music in the tea room; and muzak in tea rooms is a pet hate of mine.

After one of the driest years on record, there's not much water in the pool, and it's currently green-brown, rather than blue.

But Max and I had a nice peaceful walk through the woods by the pool, and Max seemed to like the soft ground, managed a circuit of the pool, which is the furthest he's walked in months.