My Kingdom for a Workshop!

You need to eat cheese with this blog post because it's a whine!  I'm grateful for so many things:  being my own boss; living in such a beautiful place; living in a cute little apartment and not having to drive to work...lots more, but I need to get to the whining part.
Being a very visual person, I need my beads and findings out in plain sight to get inspired.  Because the only furniture my dogs don't think is theirs is the kitchen table and chairs, I need the table to eat.  I can keep a little spot clear that's big enough for a plate and water glass but every once in awhile people actually threaten to visit and that requires a mad flurry of cleaning.  Then it looks so good clean, I don't make any jewelry for a while because everything is all neatly filed away in drawers.
And metalwork is calling, along with silver clay, of course.  Copper and bronze clay is calling too, but the only way I could put a kiln in here is to put it where my microwave is, and I'd starve to death if I wasn't able to nuke frozen food.  My kitchen island has the accoutrements of every sophisticated kitchen - tumbler, fire bricks, a butane torch and an anvil. 
Some people dream of kitchen renovations.  I dream of being able to fire clay or anneal copper without setting off the fire alarm and choking the dogs.  The time of year probably has a lot to do with my complaints, because the furnace runs when I open the windows or the door and the only thing I'd like more than a workshop is a furnace that runs on air.  I dream of a nice, warm working area with great ventilation and lots of counters.  Nice, open trays full of gemstones, beads, and pearls, with clear drawers for findings.  I'd build a wooden holder for all of my pliers and cutters, instead of having them in a tacklebox under my table that creeps out and trips me when I'm not paying attention.

Ah well, it's great to dream, but Dewey hates change and he gets very suspicious if I do anything differently.  Better get back to counting my blessings...