To run a good bed & breakfast, one has to be adept at a very modern concept: multi-tasking! Yesterday's letter to Wendy Gordon at the Green Guide Institute has produced a quick response. Ms. Gordon agrees to list green bed & breakfasts at the bottom of the
Web site. And today her assistant Kate is requesting information on Chez Sven. We email back and forth as the bell clangs outside. The UPS man waves from his truck, having left a small package on the doorstep. Inside I find 5 honeycomb tiles from Casa Talavera. I glance at the computer screen to see if a tentative booking from Belgium has been confirmed when the phone rings.
Paul, in New Mexico, wants to know if we have received the tile. “Yup, it’s here,” I tell him. “Just arrived.” Then
Paul, in California, emails the good news that a Canon Powershot digital camera is on the way, a present for his mom.
I call Van Van, the wonderful Tileman, who promises to stop by after work and set the last 5 tiles needed to complete the tub flange in Seagull Cottage. Meanwhile Sven is painting the ceiling and oiling the floor. I take one last look at the multiple slips of yellow paint and opt for Oriole. We have a Wellfleet oriole living in the tree outside, a bird of Baltimore no more what with climate change. Off I rush to Orleans Paint, stopping on the way at Neighborhood Auto for a quick technological review of the Volvo. A CHECK MOTOR light was flashing yesterday on the way home from Trader Joe’s in Hyannis where I noted a great selection of tulips at the unbeatable price of $5.99, perfect for the cottage table. Guests are coming in a couple days, sweethearts celebrating Valentine’s Day. Since I want everything perfect, as soon as I get home, I call a friend who helps out with green cleaning. She agrees to come Thursday. I check the organic flour to make sure I can bake bread.
Then it’s off to the dump. When I get home, Sven tells me I just missed Nate who stopped by to pick up the check for making the Studio's new hand rail, required by insurance. I call him on his cell. There is also a message from Christelle, excellent massage therapist. A March guest has requested salt rubs. A specialist gave her a salt rub today, so she is ready to provide this service next month. I sit back down at the computer and print out directions to
Whole Health New England in Plymouth where I must go tomorrow. Then I return to the revision I did this morning of the first chapters of my novel. Busy, busy, busy have I been, as usual, even though Chez Sven has no mid-week guests in quiet season. A bed & breakfast owner’s work is never done!
I call Van Van, the wonderful Tileman, who promises to stop by after work and set the last 5 tiles needed to complete the tub flange in Seagull Cottage. Meanwhile Sven is painting the ceiling and oiling the floor. I take one last look at the multiple slips of yellow paint and opt for Oriole. We have a Wellfleet oriole living in the tree outside, a bird of Baltimore no more what with climate change. Off I rush to Orleans Paint, stopping on the way at Neighborhood Auto for a quick technological review of the Volvo. A CHECK MOTOR light was flashing yesterday on the way home from Trader Joe’s in Hyannis where I noted a great selection of tulips at the unbeatable price of $5.99, perfect for the cottage table. Guests are coming in a couple days, sweethearts celebrating Valentine’s Day. Since I want everything perfect, as soon as I get home, I call a friend who helps out with green cleaning. She agrees to come Thursday. I check the organic flour to make sure I can bake bread. 
Then it’s off to the dump. When I get home, Sven tells me I just missed Nate who stopped by to pick up the check for making the Studio's new hand rail, required by insurance. I call him on his cell. There is also a message from Christelle, excellent massage therapist. A March guest has requested salt rubs. A specialist gave her a salt rub today, so she is ready to provide this service next month. I sit back down at the computer and print out directions to Whole Health New England in Plymouth where I must go tomorrow. Then I return to the revision I did this morning of the first chapters of my novel. Busy, busy, busy have I been, as usual, even though Chez Sven has no mid-week guests in quiet season. A bed & breakfast owner’s work is never done!
