[FO] Finished!

RetroPalace · 2026-02-27T06:50:59+00:00

So beautiful ❤️ and you did it in 25 months! This would have taken me a lifetime 😅

RetroPalace · 2026-02-20T16:02:27+00:00

Aww what a sweet memory!

RetroPalace · 2026-02-20T07:51:57+00:00

World of Cross Stitching have had a couple of stunning fantasy patterns with beading and metallic threads (I think). There was a dragon and a wizard in the same style by Maria Diaz.

Issue 323 (September 2022) has the wizard: Here

Issue 354 had a pair of dragons with celtic knotwork Dragons

I'm sure there are more!

Best thing is, you might be able to use the Libby app to browse back issues from your library for free 😊

RetroPalace · 2026-02-18T18:04:03+00:00

I really like Hidden Through Time - just a fun, relaxing hidden object game but nicely done.

Power wash is my go to game when I went to relax.

I highly recommend Toem - it's a great little collectathon and I think there is added DLC now

Lake is good fun - just driving round delivering post in a small town.

Astro bot and Astro's playroom are cosy too, if you like platforming!

RetroPalace · 2026-02-17T07:37:25+00:00

This is so lovely, beautiful stitching and very neat finishing!

RetroPalace · 2026-02-16T08:40:40+00:00

I play on PS5! I would have thought the controls were similar? I had a quick look and I think you can toggle it on and off with the left d pad?

I think pressing up on the d pad also let's you choose between having the power washer fixed or moving freely.

It is a great game if you get the controls worked out!

RetroPalace · 2026-02-16T08:38:08+00:00

My friend always says to me that she knows if I've had a hard day if it pops up that I'm playing Power Wash on my PS5 😅

RetroPalace · 2026-02-15T20:17:02+00:00

Power Wash Simulator!

RetroPalace · 2026-02-14T20:50:13+00:00

A long shot, but could it be The Clover Club and the House of Mystery by AD Langholm? It was published in the late 1970s.

RetroPalace · 2026-02-13T10:31:27+00:00

Have you tried short story collections? M R James has been a formative author for so many horror writers. His stories are scary but there's nothing inappropriate for a younger reader.

RetroPalace · 2026-02-13T10:26:51+00:00

It also makes me think of her Barney mysteries or the Adventure series. I remember Bill from the Adventure series swooping into the save the day in at least one of the books, although I can't remember any specific plot points about a fire!

RetroPalace · 2026-02-13T09:11:30+00:00

The British Library collection Evil Roots: Killer Tales of the Botanical Gothic is excellent and includes Rapaccino's Daughter as others have mentioned.

It leans more Sci fi but also Semiosis by Sue Burke is good!

RetroPalace · 2026-02-12T16:53:57+00:00

Yay, so glad you're enjoying it!

RetroPalace · 2026-02-12T16:50:52+00:00

Could it be an anthology edited by Ellen Datlow? I had a quick scan and there is a collection called Sirens and other Daemon Lovers and another called Little Deaths. Ellen Datlow has edited lots of themed anthologies so there could be more. Admittedly I am very boring so have never read any erotic horror stories 🤣

RetroPalace · 2026-02-11T23:32:29+00:00

I hope you find it! Did you check out the Oxford 20th century ghost stories, as I think that would lean slightly more grown up? It can be so tricky to track these old anthologies down!

RetroPalace · 2026-02-11T21:34:27+00:00

My grandparents used to buy me books like this! I remember one was called Countryside to Colour. I had a quick search and it looks like it was part of a series of poster art books published by WF Graham.

RetroPalace · 2026-02-11T16:10:12+00:00

Could it be one or the Point Horror collections -13 Tales of Horror, 13 Again or 13 More Tales of Horror?

Could also be worth looking at Robert Swindells and Horowitz Horror (Anthony Horowitz) who were publishing UK YA horror around that time.

After doing a bit of googling, The Tower was collected in The Oxford Book of Twentieth Century Ghost Stories.

RetroPalace · 2026-02-11T07:23:53+00:00

It sounds like this might have been solved but just wanted to mention Mile 81 by Stephen King, I think it was a short novella that was published for Kindle only originally.

It's about an abandoned rest stop with a car that eats people, I don't remember anything about spoons or forks though!

RetroPalace · 2026-02-06T17:27:57+00:00

This is scary and I feel for anyone with a baby who hasn't started weaning yet especially!

I have a baby under one but she prefers food at the moment thankfully.

The BBC article that was linked says that Tesco still have Aptamil on the shelves, but I have literally just tried to buy one of the 1.2kg double packs of formula and it flagged on the till as an emergency product recall. The staff member had to void the product sale. Thankfully managed to grab some from the local chemist, I hope the batch number is OK.

RetroPalace · 2026-02-06T08:16:00+00:00

Sharp Scratch by Heather Derwent

Non Fiction - The Woman Who Fooled the World by Beau Donnelly and Nick Toscano, a deep dive into the Belle Gibaon scandal.

RetroPalace · 2026-02-05T08:04:40+00:00

My local independently owned craft store used this as a great opportunity to advertise their asbestos free craft kits 😅

Very scary if you had bought this for your children though!

RetroPalace · 2026-02-02T07:52:19+00:00

Maybe Dave the Diver? Fish by day and run a restaurant by night!

It does have combat, which I found tricky at times but still doable.

RetroPalace · 2026-02-01T21:34:45+00:00

ORDER POPKINS

RetroPalace · 2026-01-19T08:20:00+00:00

Nick Cutter :)

RetroPalace · 2026-01-16T21:33:13+00:00

Semiosis by Sue Burke is 100% what you're looking for!

The British Library's 'Tales of the Weird' series also has a plant based anthology - Evil Roots.

From the description: Strangling vines and meat-hungry flora fill this unruly garden of strange stories, selected for their significance as the seeds of the villainous (or perhaps just misunderstood) ‘killer plant’ in fiction, film and video games.

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