A SIX or seven-day week, averaging out at around 60 hours.

It is down at Tynecastle where Ann Budge bides. Whether from her old seat in the Wheatfield Stand, or her new habitat in the meeting rooms and directors' box of that historical yet rickety old main stand, the Hearts owner has come to appreciate every nook and cranny of the famous old stadium. But she is not blind to its shortcomings.

The IT businesswoman is as annoyed as anyone on those frequent occasions when angry letters come in complaining about a lack of running water in the toilets, or when one of Archibald Leitch's exquisitely designed pillars obstructs her view.

It was a decade ago that Chris Robinson's board declared Tynecastle no longer fit for purpose but rather than moan about things, Budge has resolved to do something about it. Before she formalised her involvement in football, the 67-year-old had a simple remedy: raze it to the ground and build a stadium from scratch.

But after careful thought that view has changed and she revealed that the board are drawing up plans to revamp and expand the main stand, and are involved in detailed scenario planning about decamping to Murrayfield for a season.

"I used to sit there in my ivory tower and think the answer was obvious," said Budge. "It would be 'of course we need to move to a new stadium, with new facilities, do this and do that, that would be totally fit for purpose'. Why are they faffing about?

"But having been here for a year and heard so many people speak passionately about Tynecastle, I think the next step is going to be 'what can we do to keep us here?' It is about how we can overcome these challenges. We are still doing the work, still looking at all the options, and all the difficulties, but I am looking at it from the point of view of 'what can we do to make this viable?' If we do it then we really have to do it with increasing the capacity and hospitality in mind. Then, over a period of time you could see how it could pay for itself."

Ever since Robinson floated the idea of moving lock, stock and barrel to the home of the Scottish Rugby Union, Murrayfield has been something of a dirty word for the Hearts support. A soulless arena which the club's fans would be unable to fill, it is viewed as the antithesis of Tynecastle.

"I know there was a great deal of dissatisfaction when we played a couple of games at Murrayfield and we all understand why," said Budge. "I was sitting in that stand as well thinking 'gosh, where is the atmosphere?' But I think, and I am not saying that this is the solution - we are also looking at others - but if supporters knew it was getting done for a reason, then I think we might get a bit more backing.

"We are working quite hard on coming up with the various scenarios. I would like to think that by the end of next year - and this is not a commitment - we would have enough information to be able to say 'that is possible, while that is just not going to work.'"

What happens next off the field at Tynecastle - where parts of the stadium have listed-building status - is as intriguing as what happens on it. Seated in front of Budge last week, replete with maroon-and-white ribbons, was the Championship trophy, the same one teams, such as Hearts in 1985, used to fight over in the old premier division days. There is a quiet glow of satisfaction there as Budge looks back upon a presentation day during which she was joined in the directors' box for the first time by her daughter Carol (she usually sits in the Wheatfield Stand) as the club finished the season on a high by clawing back a two-goal deficit against Rangers. Afterwards, she performed an impromptu walkabout with the trophy.

"The day lived up to my expectations," she said. "It was emotional. When we were talking about putting the stage up I said that's not very fair on all the people sitting in the stand behind. So we had to find a way that they could see the trophy too."

Fairness is Budge's buzz- word, but football being football, there is already a predictable clamour for Hearts to push the boat out in pursuit of Celtic. Their hard-headed owner, though, knows the club has already risked extinction from chasing a dream which ultimately harvested no more than a couple of Scottish Cup wins.

"You do get caught up in things and you have to check yourself and remind yourself it is a business," said Budge. "It is, of course, fantastic to win trophies, but for most people, surviving and being in a good place is more important - although I'm hesitating - than the glory of winning things."

Chairmen and owners of football clubs usually come in for stick sooner or later but for now Budge is simply being love bombed. For someone who doesn't court publicity, it has taken a bit of getting used to.

"I do get recognised in Edinburgh as you would imagine," she said. "In restaurants, airports and walking along Princes Street, in shops, Marks and Spencers, you name it. But it has never been intrusive. They will come up and say nice things."

There was a suspicion that Budge would be an absentee owner, happy to sign the cheques and give director of football Craig Levein carte blanche while she counted the days to handing the whole shooting match over to the Foundation of Hearts in five years' time. She quickly quashed that notion. She does not, Vladimir Romanov-style, pick her own team, but she is granted an audience with head coach Robbie Neilson each Friday where he explains his.

Then there are those ferocious statements, one of which - with the help of Sky Sports - forced the SPFL into a rethink about the timing of last weekend's title party. "I write it myself," she said. "I'm afraid that's where the control freak in me comes in. I write it, then pass it to somebody else and ask them whether from a supporter's perspective it makes sense and if I have any facts wrong. I ask if there's anything I need to add, I get it back and that's it."

Budge is enjoying things so much the question is whether she will be prepared to give it all up. Five years have quickly become four.

"No matter how much I would like to keep it, I can't," she said. "I have committed to handing it over.

"But if, when the ownership changes nobody thinks we can do this, and the foundation or supporters said 'can you carry on?', I wouldn't see an issue with that, other than the fact I am getting awfully old."

Don't be fooled: Budge remains young at heart and Hearts will continue to prosper by her involvement.