HOLIDAY RENTAL HOMES ARE HARD WORK!

I love our Daisy Cottage and to date we have delightful guests but boy, is keeping a holiday home for rental hard work!

Every Saturday it means (for me), stripping 4 single beds, 2 double beds and a king size bed. Then making them all up again with sheets, duvet covers & pillow cases (20!) that I have spent the previous week washing, drying & ironing. Not to mention 20 bath sheets, 20 hand towels, 20 face/wash cloths, 7 tea towels, and 12 bath towels.

After that every room ~ 5 bedrooms, living room, kitchen/diner must be dusted and the skirting boards, doors, and door handles (yes, door handles ~ I blame my OCD) must be wiped. The the floors all hoovered and washed. Did I say all drawers inside checked & dusted? Well, them too. Back to washing the floors, I had been washing the floors with my old fashioned mop because I favour them best BUT I have discovered a new flat mop contraption which you change the cloth on each time. It is brilliant at washing and almost drying the floor as I go.

The all the windows inside have to be washed and polished. Then all the en suites (3) and bathroom (1) to be washed from top to bottom. After washing the loo I even have a 'bathroom duster' and spray the seat and lid with spray polish and shine with my 'bathroom duster'. And the taps and loo handles polished. And finally in those rooms I have discovered that very pale tiles on bathroom floors are totally unforgiving of a mop and so it's down on my hands and knees to wash the floors. I will end up with housmaids knee!!!

Then the landing and stairs carpet hoovered ~ NEVER buy a cherry red carpet if you have to be fussy about hoovering! It is a nightmare. I was warned, but would I listen? As indeed I was warned about Egyptian cotton sheets, but did I listen then either?

After the bedrooms upstairs and the bedroom downstairs & en suites and bathroom, it's into the living room where the ashes have to be lifted (although some of our guests have left the fire clean for me, something I really appreciate). All the sofas have to be dusted and polished, top, front & back. Then the tv unit, tv, coffee table, side table & bookstand & display cabinet dusted and polished. And the lamps & shades. Floor hoovered, mat taken outside and shaken, floor washed. Door glass polished.

Then out to the kitchen/diner. Cupboards dusted, any dishes in dishwasher put away. I am so lucky so far in that all our guests have left neither dirty dishes nor dirty saucepans ~ another thing I greatly appreciate. Drawers & utensils checked and cleaned. Fridge/freezer cleaned and doors, & handles polished and dishwasher front & top polished. Table washed. Chairs dusted. Placemats washed and dried. Work top polished. (Can you imagine how blooming wrecked I am feeling when I get this far?).

And then the very, very worst job of all. Washing my beautiful classic black and white tiled hall & kitchen/diner floor. I have a love/hate relationship with these tiles. I love to look at them but they are a total nightmare to wash! And get dried! I am sorely tempted to cover them with wood and be done with it but the love side of me won't let me.

Out back to check the Great Outdoors Under Cover (paved & covered gazebo patio area), the games loft, and the bins. Finally downstairs windows washed and polished and the front door too if I get a chance.

And after all that, it's back home to begin 3 days of washing & ironing of sheets, duvets, pillow cases. And washing towels, bath sheets, teatowels.

I never realised how hard work keeping a house this size so spick and span would be! I want a cleanaholic house cleaner!

But for all the work, I love our Daisy Cottage and it's atmosphere and I enjoy meeting our guests so it's all good.