Friday 15th August 2008

This morning the weather was nice and clear (something we haven't seen for a while) and mom and I decided to take the opportunity to get out and visit one of the beautiful gardens nearby, which mom has been wanting to see on advice from my Aunt Fay.

Forgetting that the days start here really really slowly, we were out and waiting at the gates of Borde Hill Gardens by just after 09h30 only to discover that they (along with most of the businesses in Lindfield) only open at 10h00 - I must give my children credit where it is due and they were exceptionally patient, especially considering the fact that they could see the most awesome playground just beyond their reach (lol)

Borde Hill Gardens is set in 200 acres of parkland and was developed approximately 100 years ago when Colonel Stephenson Clarke returned from expeditions around the world bringing many rare trees and shrubs back with him. The buildings and gardens are a grade 2 listed building and the manor house was absolutely spectacular....Megan counted a total of 26 chimneys.

The children spent many happy hours searching for daisies in their "daisy chain" and trying to earn the free ice cream at the end of the hunt, and Mom and I just enjoyed wondering around in the lovely sunshine and spectacular setting.

Mom finished the day off with another walk into Lindfield to collect her asthma pump, I think she is loving the freedom of not having to drive and yet still be able to get from A to B without difficulty. On that topic, I need to "document" her experience yesterday with the NHS.

Although mom bought a number of asthma pumps with her, it became apparent on around Tuesday that she was possibly not going to have enough to see her through the remainder of her stay so after a conversation with my dad debating whether or not he should just send her another one via post or whether we should try and get one here, it was decided that she should just book an appointment with our GP and obtain the necessary script in order to buy her pump.

Having seen the doctor and explaining her situation, mom left the rooms with her script and on reaching reception asked how much she needed to pay for the appointment, only to be met with a strange look from the lady behind reception who said if the doctor hadn't given her a bill there was no charge....to this my mom again explained that she is not resident in the UK but visiting from SA and the receptionist (looking even more bemused at this stage) patiently explained that if the doctor didn't say so then there was no charge for the appointment.

Well my mom was totally blown away and left the doctor's rooms terribly impressed with the NHS and the fact that even as a visitor she had been able to benefit from it......this however is not where the story ends, on arriving at the pharmacy, mom handed in her script and asked the cost of the pump only to hear that due to the fact that she is over 60 there was no charge for the pump, again she explained that she is not a UK resident and only visiting from SA and again she was met by a bemused expression and an explanation that no one over the age of 60 pays for any medication in this country, and to top it all off she was given an asthma pump here that medical aid has refused to pay for in SA for the last 10 years due to its high cost - needless to say, my mother is in love with England and thinks this country is too good to be true (lol).