Or a day in the life of an innkeeper.

Forget what you saw on Newhart, that ’80s sitcom about an innkeeper who seems to spend most of the day lounging. Dan and I have found our complementary strengths, so we wear all the hats”. Still you’res on the go 12 hours a day and is lucky to get six hours of sleep a night.

I’ve found the key to productivity for me… is the more i do , the more I do… Have a plan and then it’s go with the flow chart time

First Up: Perfunctory run with Manker.. .we both need to get out… get the horses in for their morning breakfast.. .thisis a bed and breakfast after all.

Second up: fixing the washer.

Dan and I (OK, Dan alone, with me watching) take the machine apart and discover the culprit: a ripped hose. We’ll need a replacement, and soon Dan races north to the closest store that has one — 20 miles away.

I’m left behind to arrange fresh flowers for the dining room. Already, I’m falling behind on the day’s chores. By now, I should have prepared registration cards for check-ins. And at some point I must get into the kitchen for the weekly menu “fire up the ovens” routine. Still waiting for Dan to come back, I instinctively go re-clean the toilets… cathartic.

As an aside, we remodeled the inn, can you say “gutted it and started again” and just before we moved in we had a well known local cleaner come in and give it a top to bottom cleaning. Nothing worse than moving all your belongings into a new home only to have to get into everything and clean it. Best to clean an empty nest. To this day, I owe her a debt of gratitude. Periodically we have some of her staff in here prior to or apres guests for a clean up. “It’s not too bad,” she says when asked what it’s like to work at a bed-and-breakfast. “I guess this is what it’s like to be a housewife.”

A housewife on steroids, maybe. I go over the “game plan” for when each breakfast item needs to go in the oven (critical, , when serving up to 14 people a day). And there’s another chart showing the dietary constraints of each guest. Tomorrow, one guest is a vegetarian. Another doesn’t eat eggs.

Excuse me, just had to take that last phone call; a reservation .. folks coming from Boston .. .via Yellowstone and staying for two nights. Pre-requisite and fun schmoozing and yes… booked. They too are looking to transition their jobs and lifestyle to Montana. I’m telling you this really is the last best place

Guests or no guests, kitchen cleaning is non-ending. You also have to be a part time fix-it type since Murphy tends to rear his head at most inopportune time. Here’s thirteen enlightening cleaning tips

Tip 1: DOOR LOCKS If a room clearly can’t be whipped into shape in 30 days, much less 30 minutes, employ the Locked Door Method of cleaning. Tell anyone who tries to go in the room that you accidentally locked the door and can’t find the key. Of course, the locksmith can’t possibly come until tomorrow. CAUTION: It is not advisable to use this tip for the bathroom. Time: 2 seconds

Tip 2: DUCT TAPE No home should be without an ample supply. Not only is it handy for plumbing repairs, but it’s a great way to hem drapes, tablecloths, clothes, just about anything. No muss, no fuss. Time: 2-3 minutes

Tip 3: OVENS If you think ovens are just for baking, think again. Ovens represent at least 9 cubic feet of hidden storage space, which means they’re a great place to shove dirty dishes, dirty clothes, or just about anything you want to get out of sight when company’s coming. Time: 2 minutes

Tip 4: CLOTHES DRYERS Like Secret Tip 3, except bigger. CAUTION: Avoid hiding flammable objects here. Time: 2.5 minutes

Tip 5: WASHING MACHINES & FREEZERS Like Secret Tip 4, except even bigger. Time: 3 minutes

Tip 6: DUST RUFFLES No bed should be without one. Devotees of Martha Stewart believe dust ruffles exist to keep dust out from under a bed or to help coordinate the colorful look of a bedroom. The rest of us know a dust ruffle’s highest and best use is to hide whatever you’ve managed to shove under the bed. (Refer to Secret Tips 3, 4, 5.) Time: 4 minutes

Tip 7: DUSTING The 30-Minutes-To-A-Clean-House method says: Never dust under what you can dust around. Time: 3 minutes

SECRET TIP 8: DISHES Don’t use them. Use plastic or paper plates and you won’t have to. Time: 1 minute

Tip 9: IRONING If an article of clothing doesn’t require a full press and your hair does, a curling iron is the answer. In between curling your hair, use the hot wand to iron minor wrinkles out of your clothes. Yes, it really does work, or so I’m told, by other disciples of the 30-Minutes-To-A-Clean-House philosophy. Time: 5 minutes (including curling your hair)

Tip 10: VACUUMING Stick to the middle of the room, which is the only place people look. Don’t bother vacuuming under furniture. It takes way too long and no one looks there anyway. Time: 5 minutes, entire house; 2 minutes, living room only

Tip 11: LIGHTING The key here is low, low, and lower. It’s not only romantic, but bad lighting can hide a multitude of dirt. Time: 10 seconds

Tip 12:: BED MAKING Get an old-fashioned waterbed. No one can tell if those things are made up or not, saving you, oh, hundreds of seconds over the course of a lifetime. Time: 0

Tip 13: SHOWERS, TOILETS, AND SINKS Forget one and two. Concentrate on three. Time: 1 minute

There’s a lot more to running an inn than baking muffins, That’s why it’s great to be a husband/wife team where while Dan does alot of cooking I do the housekeeping, bookkeeping, marketing and ranch stuff. (except for the real heavy duty work that needs to get done around a ranch) . except when I’m cleaning.

Trot on friends, trot on.