We Now Return To Our Regularly Scheduled Program

Le Palais des Papes in Avignon, the largest intact Gothic palace in the world.
Which, alas, only refers to the buildings, not anything in them

The previous three weeks of radio silence have been the result of a) preparing for vacation, b) being on vacation, and c) recovering from vacation.  Said vacation was in Provence, a place I had never been; and it was lovely and magical and I didn't want to come home.  It was also chock-full of medieval architecture, including an entire abandoned village you can freely wander around, though regrettably no textiles or dec-arts remain anywhere (everything that may have survived the passage of time has been snarfed by bigger museums elsewhere).    Much to my sorrow, I could not diddle the travel plans in a workable way that permitted a stop at the endangered Musée des Tissus et des Arts décoratifs in Lyon, which holds a lot of Clothing's Greatest Hits.  We did travel right past it, but it was not practical to jump out of the train going 100+ MPH. I may yet live to regret not trying it. 

But I can present a working reconstruction
of a 15th-century paper mill that's in
Fontaine-de-Vaucluse

I did get three more Queen's Favors embroidered on the plane, at least.  Should have been four, but that's the problem with watching superhero movies when you're trying to work; you just have to look at the really impressive bits (IYKWIM, AITYD!)

So, best vacation ever; also, point of self-aggrandizement, we did so much walking and climbing that I lost a pound and a half; but my re-entry into ordinary life and the realization of just how few weeks it is til Pennsic was rather like being thrown into a vat of icy water.  Which is mixed with angry bees.  During a lightning storm. In a spirit of complete candor, I will admit that back in April, I started waking up in the middle of the night with what I have since learned are panic attacks, and though they disappeared during vacation and I was all "hurray!  Is fixed!", they returned with a vengeance afterwards.  I have taken advice (medical and otherwise), and mitigation is in place, but the point of this is that I am permitting my hobby to have far too much of an emotional impact on my well-being...an issue that, by my observation, is far too common among us.  Please, take the time to think about this, and practice some self-care if you feel you might be doing the same.  IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE FUN.

[end PSA]

I had previously taken some pains to reduce the nebulous cloud of All The Work into actionable items; the problem is, that list is still a very long one, and not one I felt the least bit comfortable in my ability to finish.  Or even to start. Yesterday, I hacked on it yet further; for the upcoming week, the only thing I think about is Stuff That Has To Be Done For Next Saturday, which is:

• Create my class (essential)
• Figure out something to bring to the potluck (essential) (but could be delegated)
• Hem the favors I've embroidered (important) 
• (better still if I can do by Thurs and drop off to the local canton meeting, since they're batching delivery)
• Redo the Tiny Tiny Flat Cap (nice to have, probably won't happen)

I started working on the class last night, and once again fell down the rabbit hole of trying to make it super-scholarly and documented.  No, stupid, that's not what this is. This is a brief survey of banners so people who have never done one before feel prepared to go out and make one of their own.  Stop chasing references to Charles the Bold's lost treasures and when the French Crown started hanging banners in Notre-Dame.  STAAAHHP.