June 5, 2021 by princesshotflash

Hello!

After many years of blogging, I’ve decided to take a WordPress course to draw a bigger audience and focus more on my writing. They suggested taking stock of what I have accomplished and what I liked to do for the next six months. So here’s what I got so far.

Taking Stock

The Chronicles of Princess Hot Flash started as a way to let my family and friends know what was going on with my life through travel, cooking, and baking, turning into restaurant madness, a multitude of crafting projects, and crazy cat lady moments. My trusty companions in my crazy world were my husband Oat and my cat, Click.

Three plus years ago, that all changed plus even more this past year due to COVID. My two companions have gone but hopefully watching over me, making sure I’m okay.

Things I’ll miss: (left to right, top to bottom) my beautiful Click, testing out desserts on my friends, hiking in National Parks, walking on our snowy path, and my funny Oat.

I have a new crew of four: Cora: my mom, the 91-year-old boss of all things and owner of Cora’s garden; Joe, my dad, the 93-year-old singer plus visual artist; Ollie, my stray that I found behind our restaurant; Orange, my round orange tabby. And my location has changed from New Jersey to Hawaii and back to my childhood home.

My new crew: (left to right, top to bottom) Mom modeling a knitted cowl I made for her, Dad the hipster in his new beanie, Ollie looking handsome, and Orange as tiny shy kitten (not any more, hahah).

The Pandemic took my job, and I became one of the many thousands unemployed. I’m currently a freelance graphic designer working part-time, volunteering at my favorite non-profits, and helping care for my parents. In between all of that, I’m working on too many project looking for something to inspire me to make something beautiful.

My slew of project, looking to inspiration: (left to right, top to bottom) Scheepjes 2020 CAL, (still going); trying out boro quilting on my pillow case; basket made from cord made from a lucet loom; trying my hand at pattern making, mom’s shorts; scrappy animals–pink cat;Hot Wheels the scrap dog; Arne and Carlos Quarantine squares blanket (done); hand quilting my aloha shirt blanket; and watercolor painting with embroidery.

The Next Six Months

Planning for the Next Six Months is the hard part. I’ve been putting this off for three-plus years. I guess this was my reason for signing up for this course. Here’s what I’d like to happen. I want to draw a bigger audience by creating more features like Cora’s Garden, posting about my too many projects and looking for inspiration, launching my Etsy shop and posting about my handmade items, and showcasing the photos I’ve been shooting these many years.

How about this does this sound like a plan?

March 2, 2021 by princesshotflash

Hiking: Kuaokala Trail

Another wet and windy hike in the books, Kuaokala Trail. The forecast was to be scattered showers with gusty winds. As we entered Waianae, it started to pour. But we decided it would passing, and by the time we get to the trailhead, it would be clear.

Kuaokala is a permitted hike because the hike is on military land. To get the trailhead, you enter at Kaena point Satellite Tracking Station. Besides the permit, you will need ids for everyone in the car. The military police let you in through the three gates. You will need to call them on using call box if they are not around.

The weather turned not in our favorite as it became more wet and windy as we hiked. It made parts of the trail slippery and our views obstructed by clouds and rain. But I did managed to catch a few shot when the sun peaked out.

The crew during a break in from the rain. Cousin “E, “T”, “J”, and “L”

This trail was worth going on wet and windy day. The rain made it a little tougher but it was great to get out amongst the trees.

November 11, 2020November 11, 2020 by princesshotflash

Life: 11.11.2020

Furlough, jamming, life, My Etsy shop, pickling, sewing
addition, budget, Laid off, life, part-time, photo shoot, projects, quilting, scraps, sourdough starter, storage unit
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Who knew in a matter of ~~two~~ three months, my life would change so much. Here’s what is going on. I started this post on 10.20.2020 and have started on a few things.

Furlough officially turned into unemployed.
Decided only to work part-time
Staying put in my parent’s house.

I guess I need to look life from a different point of view

I mentioned in my post Moving Forward; I need to update my to-do list. I looked back at my list, and it seems going longer and longer. Hmmm. I thought I made more progress.

Well, I need to adjust the ever-growing list to make it attainable for me to feel like I’m getting things done. I’m putting out in the universe.

Do List

Clean out my storage unit by the end of the year; last week I cleared out 4 boxes; and I think I found a home for the dehydrator and my imac.
Get plans to rework the house: call someone to draw up the ideas.
Make a budget; made the budget sheet; need to make an appointment with myself to enter my month expenses
Work on projects with scrap materials and yarn
Draft a blouse pattern for me and make so clothes for me
Start stitching my aloha shirt patchwork quilt
Open my Etsy shop; scheduled myself for a photo shoot for my inventory this week
Make a sourdough starter and make more bread
Experiment with my pickle and jam flavors

This list is my wish list that things I want to do and over time hope to achieve.

Wish List

Go on another hiking trip to Japan.
Learn how to double knit and brioche stitch
Make a batch of miso
Make a batch of croissant

July 13, 2020 by princesshotflash

Life: 07.13.2020

Few updates to my list to keep me going. And I added few new ones, too.

Aloha shirt patchwork quilt
I’ve got a lot of squares cut out but want more color in it and went to my storage unit to find Oat’s old aloha shirts that I kept for a project like this. So now, I’m in the process of taking apart more shirts. At least I decided on doing a 1/2 triangle pattern.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 20200713_080108.jpg — a pile of Oat’s Aloha shirts to take apart

Double knit and strand work

I’m yet to start on learning double knitting. My tension of my strand work is so much better and I’m faster at reading charts that I think it will only help when I start double knitting.

For non-knitters, double knitting is when you knit both front and back of the pattern at the same time. One side is the the reverse (in color) from the other. Here’s a video from Arne and Carlos about double knitting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_G5EOnRRb8.

Journaling

Got me a bright yellow journal, 2 sizes of pilot pens, correction tape and ruler to start. I’m bit of a mess, with smudges here and there. I need to take my time with those pens.

It’s bit of bullet journal, bit of me just tracking things that going on with me. Like that it takes me away from my phone or my tablet which I need to do at night. It’s not colorful or pretty as some that I’ve seen on youtube and online but it’s a start. It does have sketches of ideas I have for things I want to make.

My Etsy shop

first prototype filled with items for my shop

Got 8 items done and they are hanging on my bedroom door waiting to be posted in my shop. I hope I post it by the end of the month. More to come.

New adds to my list

I have a plan to rework the patio where I have my sewing set up. I’m going to rearrange and get rid of items that haven’t been use in decades. Need a more usable space.
Make more fabric with my tiny scraps of fabric and thread.
Draft a blouse pattern for myself
make pin cushion for my cousin B and E, my sister C, and myself, maybe use the scrap fabric that I make. hmmm.

I’ll try and update my list once a month. Let’s see how far I get.

October 21, 2019 by princesshotflash

My First Trip . . .

on my own . . . to Japan.

I wanted to something that was a little hard, something different, something that I would remember well. So I decide to do hiking trip to Japan, that I would hike from temple to temple on an old pilgrimage trail.

Kumano Kodo is one of two pilgrimage trails that is UNESCO World Heritage Site. The other being Camino de Santiago, another hike that I’d like to do one day.

I decided on the tour because I’ve haven’t done this kind of distance by myself, I wanted someone else to do all the planning and the logistics and I wanted company. And I’m glad I did. Just the luggage transfer was worth going with the tour. But besides, that I got to joined a group of very fun and interesting group of 11, 5 from Melbourne, 2 from Sydney, 2 from Vancouver BC, and 2 from London. Our leader was from Tokyo and we had 3 local guides on our longer hikes.

I have posted pictures of this trip in several places. Here are my favorites of great vacation.

Day 1: Osaka to Koyasan