Tag / friends

by princesshotflash

Long Ago

Remember when I posted more than once every other year. Wow! It’s been almost two years since I’ve been away. I’ve been busy catching up with life, as I officially am a senior citizen. I’m in year two of Medicare. Haha.

It’s pakalana season

I’m not sure what to do with the Chronicles of Princess Hot Flash. It’s probably time to shut it down. Not posting for two years is probably a big sign to close it down. I think I have a few more posts in me. I’ll make a decision after that.

What’s been going on in my life

Life has become more sedate since my mom passed away. I’m trying my best to keep Dad safe and fed. He will turn 98 this July. He is still at it with word finds, solitaire on the iPad, napkin-making from paper towels, and, on occasion, he breaks into a rendition of “Aloha Oe,” which he learned in school many years ago. He had a big fall in February while I was on vacation. My sister and brother-in-law were with him. After a stay in rehab, he’s back with a little more adjustment to his care. He still wants to be as independent as he can.

I went on a winter vacation in February to Yellowstone, Arches, and Canyonlands National Parks. I miss snow, so I dragged three friends with me. We spent three nights at the Snow Lodge in Yellowstone, with snowcoach rides, geyser viewing, wildlife sightings, hiking, stargazing, and snowshoeing. And the best thing was that the park was empty, except for the guests at the Snow Lodge and day visitors on snowmobiles.

Here are a few of my favorites from Yellowstone.

In between the Yellowstone and Arches, we tried our hand at dog sledding. What a great experience. I was standing behind the driver, terrified, and held on for dear life. Eventually got accustomed to the ride. The driver and dogs were fabulous.

I stood behind the driver — I didn’t think I could handle the dogs on my own.

We were off to Utah to Arches and Canyonlands National Park to see the fabulous rock formations. A lot of short walks, rock scrambling, and a couple of longer hikes made up for a stay in Moab. National parks are great in the off-season. The crowds and parking aren’t so crazy.

Me at the Delicate Arch right before sunset

What have I been working on?

This post will be too long if I give you a recap of what I’ve been working on over the last two years. Here are a few of my favorite finished projects.

I looked back at my photos to see what I’ve been working on, and it doesn’t seem like all that. Mostly to get rid of my fabric and yarn stash that could last 3 lifetimes. It doesn’t help that I’m a fabric hoarder these days, especially if it’s vintage and bright. I finished three quilt tops, two baby blankets, and a throw. I need to quilt and bind them off till they are done.

My supervisor, Orange the Cat, is watching me piece together the quilt tops and potholders on my vintage Singer 99K.

I wrote this section when I began this post in November 2025. I included it to show how my projects get done. Haha.

I’ve been giving my hands a rest from knitting and crocheting. They’ve been achy at night, making it hard to sleep. But in the past month, I’ve picked up a couple of old unfinished projects. I picked up my Hemlock Ring Doily Throw that I started in November 2024. I was making good progress and had reached the Feather and Fan chart when I noticed the stitch count was off. Ugh!

Guess what! I frogged (a knitting term for ripping it apart) the whole thing. I just wasn’t in the mood to find the mistake. But I did finish it just in time for our Annual Friends Gathering, and I used it for a door prize.

Hemlock Ring Doily Throw blocked and finished just in time for our Annual Friends Gathering as a door prize

I think I’ve caught you up with life. I hope to do a couple more posts in me. Maybe another hiking one before taking Princess Hot Flash down.

by princesshotflash

I forgot to add a cover . . .

Back in August, I posted about my staycation with my girlfriends, and I had everyone send me their photos, and I would put together a book for everyone. I forgot to add a cover in my excitement to submit the book.

Ugh! I’m so sad. The interior turned out so fun.

I had 11 coverless books and was not sure what to do. Many ideas ran through my head, and none of them sounded like a solution. And I decided to put it away till something came to me. Fast forward four months, and I have an idea. I would make patchwork covers that could be slipped on. I got the idea because I was getting together with the girls the coming Sunday, two days away! Yes, I procrastinated. I feel like I’m still in high school.

The Prototype

I wanted to make the cover colorful and fun, like the interior. I thought a vintage flower print and purple Hawaiian print would make a great combination. The vintage print was large triangular scraps. That drove the layout of the fabric. I needed to make sure I had enough for all the covers, and I was trying to keep them similar to keep the production time done.

Left: laying out the fabric; Right: the plan

Once the covers were cut, I decided to sashiko stitch (Japanese embroidery) to attach the two fabrics only on the pink fabric. I came up with a pattern to do two rows of stitching around the pink shapes. I decided the front cover would slip into the book cover pockets. I made pockets for both spine and the right edge of the cover. I initially wanted to glue the covers to the book, but I didn’t know how the paper would react to the glue, and I had no time to test. I stitched the sides of the pocket with kind of a wrapping stitch (not sure what it is really called) that I’ve seen on Instagram.

Left: sashiko style stitching. Middle: wrapping stitch edge of pockets. Right: backside of the cover, showing spine’s pocket.

Well, I didn’t make my deadline of having it done by our brunch. I had two done for the girls who live in town, and the rest would get it delivered. But we ended up spending the afternoon on my girlfriend’s patio talking, and I was able to make up six more.

The last three are done and out for hand delivery today.

I enjoyed the hand stitching patchwork part of this project and have started another stitching project with leftover scraps. I will post when I’m done with what I made.

by princesshotflash

Today’s Adventure

Quick and short post from West Oahu–Makua beach to Kaena point and back. Beautiful day, breezy, big surf, and great company as always.

Checking out the tidal pools or maybe getting a great shot of the ocean

Makua tidal pools

Natural Arch on the way to Kaena Point

Monk seal checking me out @Kaena Point

On way back

One of the many tidal pools on the trail

 

Beautiful Waianae Range–lush and green

by princesshotflash

Be careful what you ask for

Haha! I wrote I that I wanted to make mango jam and banana bread but I either missed the season or all my frozen bananas were all gone. Now I have a bunch of mangos and bananas waiting for me to do some thing with.

My girlfriend read my post and asked her friend that has a mango farm is she had any more mangoes left and look what I got. There were two people in my house that were so happy to see these. They couldn’t wait to eat one.

20180905_061916

Mangoes to eat

20180905_061931

A boxes of mangoes to jam

And maybe some mango sweet with the rest of the mangoes.

Then a family friend came by to share some bananas that she got.

20180905_062218

Bag of Williams Banana waiting to be made into something

May try batch of monkey butter with the bananas.

Well, I’ll be busy in this coming week. Pray to the weather gods for cool dry weather for jamming and baking.

by princesshotflash

NJ Sharing Network 5k Celebration of Life

I forgot to post pictures from Team Cheery Oats walk in NJ Sharing network 5k Celebration of Life on June 3. Our team raised $1230. Thanks so much for all the support and the generous contributions. The original Cheery Oat would be proud of use.

20180603_100501

L to R: Kate, Chris, Teddy, me, Steve, Amelia and Alia

Team Cheery Oats were seven strong on that Sunday morning. It was a coolish morning perfect for a 5k through the town of New Providence, NJ. Our t-shirts looked as goofy as I hoped it looked.

just a walking pace
our youngest team member
She was all smile at the end

Made some sweets for take away gift for my team members. Butterscotch Oatmeal cookies and blondies with chocolate and white chocolate chips. I only got the blondies right out of the oven. Hope they like them.

20180603_074540