Trip to Seizencote

Having spent the past two days indoors avoiding the roasting heat it was great to get in the car and go out for the day. We had planned to go out on Tuesday after Carol had been to Ashfield Medical Centre and had a blood test and a medication review with the doctor. She wanted a repeat prescription and was told by the receptionist that a doctor would ring to speak to her before writing her the required prescription. Actually, this doesn't happen. You don't now usually get a written prescription unless it's more urgent and you need your meds immediately. If that's the case you can take the paper prescription into Cox and Robinson, the chemists, who have a branch a few units along from the surgery in Beanhill and it might take them ten or fifteen minutes to make up the order if you wait. But other than that your prescription can be done electronically if you ring your pre-arranged pharmacy to order over the telephone (as I do. My pharmacy is at Sainsbury's.) and the order is usually made up within a week. Less paperwork or that's what they hope. Having said that I have an additional medication, Lyrinel.  I try to have all my medications ordered at the same time, which makes common sense, but because the Lyrinel doesn't seem to coincide with the rest of my order, I have to order it separately. The petty administration at Ashfield won't allow this, which is becoming annoying. It would surely make their life easier and save time and paperwork. So, as my stock of Lyrinel runs out, I will ring Sainsbury's pharmacy and order, but it means having to make another journey into town for this. No wonder the N.H.S. is in crisis with this sort of petty behaviour from the pen-pushers who run the organisation.

We drove away from Milton Keynes, having set the new SatNav to direct us to Seizencote, a house and garden we haven't visited before and as members of the H.H.A. (Historic Houses Association) allowing us free entry. It took some while to decide where to visit because not everywhere in their handbook is open all week or at least the days we want to visit. There were a number of places we selected but then found they were open on that specific day and then because it has been so hot over the past few days we decided we didn't fancy going out. It's quite nice being able to merely programme the SatNav (a Garmin model which I bought on Amazon.) and just following the nice lady's voice as she directs you along the road. Certainly a good deal less stressful than trying to follow a printed map in a road atlas.

We know the road out towards Buckingham fairly well. We use this road regularly, usually, when we're going to a National Trust property such as Stowe Landscape Garden, which is just outside Buckingham or going towards Bicester, which we visit regularly (as you would know if you read this blog on a regular basis.) The SatNav, interestingly, took us through the centre of Buckingham. Which was strange, as this town has a by-pass? This is the route the bus takes when we have used it when deciding to visit Oxford and leave the car at home.

We were making initially to Moreton-In-Marsh, which is the nearest town to Seizencote. The house and garden weren't due to open until 2 p.m., so it was no good arriving too early. We decided to park in the centre of Moreton and spend some time looking in the shops near the market square. Not an easy matter of finding a space, as the place was already busy with cars. It seems a very busy centre with traffic rumbling through the middle. I know this route well as I drove through it years ago on a very regular basis when I worked at the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham. My parents used to visit me on occasions and we often went to such places as Moreton-In-Marsh and Bourton-On-The-Water to visit the attractions such as the model village there or go to a very nice pub. My mother had lots of friends in and around the area who we visited also.

Moreton-In-Marsh main street

There are plenty of really nice shops to browse, some selling toys, gifts, cards and similar. Just the sort of shops you'd expect to find in what I imagine being a tourist-trap. I'm sure it is, because it's slap-bang in the middle of traditional Cotswold territory, and sure enough we saw a coach turn up and disgorge a load of elderly folk who looked the sort of people who would make straight for the nearest tea shop and enjoy cream tea, scones, jam, and cream. We found a Tesco Express ( a pity in a way, they seem to be everywhere, even in a classic Cotswold town centre.) and purchased sandwiches and crisps and found a bench to sit on in a shady place under a tree on a grassy area and munched our sandwiches.

It was then time to move off towards our destination, although we had plenty of time to kill. I had to reset the SatNav for Sezincote and we arrived in the carpark at around 1 p.m., giving us a little under an hour before the house and garden opened. Carol suggested we drive to Broadway Tower to kill the hour before Sezincote opened. We were there in minutes. We have visited it before, a rather imposing folly, built for no real practical purpose, and standing on a hill which means you can see it for miles around. We visited it a few years ago when we'd visited a National Trust property near the village of Broadway, Snowshill Manor. It seems they have developed the site where it stands with a sort of shopping outlet as well as upgrading the parking facilities as well as the paths towards the tower as well as a decent toilet block in what was a shepherd's hut. A really practical use for a traditional item.

Broadway Tower

We drove back to Sezincote and found by the time we returned that it was opened. The carpark had filled up considerably in the time we'd been away.

This property turned out to be really interesting. Very different to any of the other properties we've visited, run and protected by either the National Trust, H.H.A. or English Heritage. The gardens are quite amazing. Lots of little rivers and streams as well as canals and pools. The place has an oriental feel to it and the house itself has an onion dome on its roof. The whole place is reminiscent of the Brighton Pavilion and it's no surprise to learn that the Prince Regent is supposed to have visited Sezincote and it inspired him to have the Pavilion at Brighton designed in a similar style.

Garden at Sezincote

Having meandered about the gardens for approximately an hour and a half we decided we needed a cup of tea or at least some sort of refreshment and so wandered into the Orangery which has been converted into a tea-room and ordered a pot of tea and some very tasty chocolate cake. We had meant to tour the interior of the house and the next guided tour was due at 3 p.m. But once we got inside and the rest of the party were gathered in the entrance hall we found it to be exceptionally hot and so decided to decline and left. We did a bit more wandering in the garden and then returned to the carpark and drove home. It's actually quite a walk from the house and garden to the car park. Most properties have some sort of transport which allows visitors to be taken on a vehicle of some sort, such as at Stowe which has a sort of train arrangement, but no such transport at Sezincote and it's quite a hill walking to the carpark.

The weather has been exceptionally hot and sunny, as I have already mentioned. The scenery through Oxfordshire is quite stunning. The villages throughout and through which we drove are of that beautiful golden-coloured stone and in some respects, they might be considered stereotypical of what you'd think of as 'English,' with many of them thatched. In the countryside, the fields of corn are ready  for harvesting and we saw a few combine harvesters hard at work, usually followed by a cloud of dust as they work. Also, the tractors and trailers which assist in taking the grain from the combines and delivering their loads of wheat, oats or barley to whichever place for storage and in some cases driving slowly and as a result causing long traffic queues which no doubt cause some drivers some frustration.

We arrived back in Milton Keynes at around 4.55.

Swimming and Shopping

The summer holidays begin here! Carol is now officially on holiday from the Academy. Which means we don't have to get up quite so early each morning. It takes at least a week to get used to the idea. She told me that yesterday they had no actual training but instead did clearing up the classrooms ready for the new term in September. It seems a lot of the rubbish was caused by former teachers who have now left and they didn't clean up after themselves. Shameful. Apparently there are some schools in Milton Keynes which don't finish until this Friday. Milton Keynes Academy has a different sort of beginning and ending of their terms to the rest of the schools around here.

We went to D.W. Fitness bright and early. The roadworks near the stadium, as mentioned in an earlier post, are causing hold-ups as there are traffic lights to control the flow of traffic and we got caught up in quite a long queue. I suppose at that hour of the morning there will be people going to work. It's unclear exactly what is going on around there. It looks as if they are constructing another entrance to the football stadium campus, no doubt to allow cars to get in to the new cinema and restaurants which opened recently. 

When we got into D.W. Fitness's reception we had to put our car's registration number into a computer as it's to attempt to prevent non-members of the gym to park in the dedicated car park. No doubt they have a number recognition system on their C.C.T.V. cameras which will tell who is parking there illegally. 

The swimming pool was very busy and I only did a couple of lengths and then went in the steam room (or 'drying cupboard' as I call it.) It was far too crowded with people swimming up and down and we then went into the jacuzzi and spent around 20 minutes just enjoying the warm water and bubbles. Once we had come and and got dressed we returned home to have breakfast and then went out to Sainsbury's to do some grocery shopping. While in Sainsbury's we saw a somewhat suspicious character, dressed in black and with a hood down over his face and Carol felt somewhat nervous as he had a bag with him. She wondered quite unnecessarily that he might have had some sort of weapons in this bag. As you hear so many stories in the news about terrorists and what I would call 'loose cannon' gunmen who run amock, one does winder about someone who looked a bit suspicious. 

We picked up a repeat prescription of my medication from the pharmacy and finished our shopping. When we returned to our car in the underground carpark beneath the supermarket and were leaving we saw a group of policeman either taking off some of their protective clothing in the back of a parked car, which we thought was rather surprising and then, when we were out and driving back home along the grid roads we saw a couple of police vehicles, a police car and then a riot van. It seems as if the police might be out on some sort of exercise or about to raid a property, connected with drugs or something. Not quite clear, but it will no doubt come out on the local news.

When we got home I checked my medications and discovered that one of the meds I have was missing, isoborbide mononitrate. I have enough for a week or so, but it was a bit annoying considering I had supposedly ordered via Sainsbury's pharmacy. I immediately rang them, and I was given an apology, but I think it may be the Ashfield surgery because they have prescribed meds which I no longer use and had to send back. As the N.H.S. is supposed to be cutting back on waste, it seems rather strange that they prescribe things I no longer need or use.

I have mentioned in an earlier post that I was working on a new piece of writing. I had the idea for the plot, and had written the central 'nub' of the piece, as well as some of the opening, although at the moment it doesn't work as I would have hoped. I have got a reasonably good idea how it will develop and I'm making notes. I find that, if a story doesn't work and I put it to one side and keep it, on the back burner, as they say, eventually the plot will come together. Infant, I have several story ideas that are in various stages of development. I should imagine that most writers would identify with this. It's surely better to have a number of ideas to work on and bring them out and work on them once plot construction has been developed. 

Running Out of Medication

I don't know how I managed it, but I used up my last pravastatin tablet last night. I'm usually very up-to-date with my ordering of the repeat prescription. I usually give plenty of time to ring up Sainsbury's pharmacy to get them to contact the doctor' surgery in Beanhill so as to have the order made up. It takes around a week for the process to be completed. I set up this with them to cut down all the running around and thus make it simpler. It prevented me having to go to the surgery with either a form, filled out with the relevant medication (I have five items. Just as well I don't have to pay as I'm over 60. A single item now costs £7.85. So, in total I would have to pay something like £40 per month. And apparently this isn't for the cost of the actual medication, it's for administration costs. I shouldn't have to worry as I don't pay it. I remember when I first had my heart attack nearly eight years ago I was on sickness pay and I had to pay prescription charges. Seemed crazy when you think that the medication I am on actually keeps you alive. I left hospital and was given the bill for my prescription medication and had to go back to the hospital pharmacy to pay. I imagine that different hospitals run by different N.H.S. trusts or whatever don't all charge because when I was admitted to Milton Keynes Hospital for a short stay when I went in when I had  quite nasty attack of angina I didn't have to pay when I was discharged and they gave me a complete month's supply of medication.

I usually keep a check on my stocks of medication and then give Sainsbury's a telephone call and this, as I say, kick-starts the ordering process. I have, in the past, also ordered on-line which is just as easy and efficient. So it will now mean I will have to go direct to the surgery when it opens at 8 a.m. tomorrow and stand outside in the queue and get an appointment as soon as I can and get the doctor to give me a prescription there and then and go with the paperwork to the nearest pharmacy to get the medication. There is a pharmacy near the surgery in Beanhill and it will be easier to get it done there as it means not having to move the car. I had chosen Sainsbury's pharmacy to have the repeat prescription done because several months ago there was a problem with the isoborbide mononitrate when they couldn't obtain stocks due, I think, to a problem in the manufacturing process and it was difficult to get supplies and Sainsbury's was the one local pharmacy who seemed able to get supplies and so I set up my repeat prescription with them and they do seem the most efficient and there haven't been any problems up until now.

Temp Jobs . . . and other work

I worked for another company as a van driver. It was called Sangers and was based on the Elms Farm Industrial Estate in Bedford. This company distributed stuff to doctors surgeries and pharmacies. I delivered to an area from around St Albans to just north of London, Welwyn Garden City, Burkhamstead and surrounding area. Some of the drivers delivered prescription medication to pharmacies and took orders for products and as a result earned commission, but I didn't, but I think I may have gone on to that side of the deliveries but I think I must have left before actually earning commission. I think Sangers is now defunct, as is A.M.S. Infact, a lot of the companies that I worked for have since folded, which doesn't bode well for any company I have worked for since! I think one of the places I delivered to was Cheshunt. The man who helped show me the route was convinced that it was actually called 'Chestnut' and it took me a while to convince him that it was actually 'Cheshunt'! How ignorant can some people be? 

I would be loaded up early in the morning to begin the round, and you had to be careful as you loaded so that each particular delivery could be differentiated from other deliveries on the round so as not to be confused once I got to a particular customer as it was easy to muddle orders and as a result get things delivered to the wrong customer. This happened on several occasions, so I had to either go back that day and retrieve the item or take collect it the next day. As a result this could put my timing out and I could be later and later with my deliveries. Some of the pharmacies where I delivered could get quite annoyed if I didn't deliver when they wanted to, and one in particular, if I remember rightly in St Albans got quite angry with me when I got to his shop during his lunch break. A bit difficult to arrive exactly at the same time due to such things as traffic and weather conditions. The orders were rung through via telephone, to a bank of telephone operators and these orders were then made up in the warehouse and then placed in the relevant shelving for each particular round and then these orders taken out to each van for delivery.

On several occasions the van would be so over-loaded that it took all my best efforts to keep the van doors at the rear of the van closed securely. So much so that, on occasion I was driving along Dunstable High Street and the doors burst open, and several packets of Andrex toilet tissue fell out and I had to stop and pick them up! Goodness knows that other drivers who were nearby must have thought, but looking back it seems like something out of a comedy movie, but at the time it was just plain embarrasing.

Coughs and Sneezes

I'm currently afflicted with the annual cold. Really unpleasant. Blocked up nose, sinuses, hearing very affected, generally under the weather. I know that the 'flu jab won't have any effect on getting a cold as it's caused by a totally different  strain of virus, but it's really annoying s it takes so long to get under control and to clear up. I can't take a lot of medications that you can get 'over the counter' at a chemist's or pharmacy, such as Sudafed, Night Nurse etc, as they contain ingredients that can effect your blood pressure if you are taking any sort of heart medication as I am. I know I can't take Nurofen or Ibuprofen and had a long conversation with the pharmacist in my local branch of Boots. I am currently using Olbas oil as an inhalation, a small drop in boiling water and then breathed in, and Olbas oil on tissues which does help to clear the nose somewhat, but I am now taking Covonia cough mixture three times a day which is gradually easing things. The worst thing is at night when all the phlegm runs onto my chest and makes me cough. I worry that too much coughing might bring on a further heart attack. Anything hot helps, even a cup of tea or coffee, a good soak in a hot bath or a shower does relieve things considerably.