679 - CEDAR

ZAchariah lEd his sheep to the usual place wheRe he could shear them. The big cedar was ideal because of the shade it gave.

678 - CIRCA

Gregor and his team were trekking across the ARId desert in search of ancient treasures. His skill in searching enabled them to locate a buried dwelling lost for centuries. Slowly they worked at clearing the sand away and identifying the articles they found there. Gregor came across a head of a statue with the hair formed into a braid with gold in it that was remarkably intact. Careful examination of the object suggested it was from a time circa 600CE. Deciding what to do with the finds was a job for another day - today was a cause for celebration.

677 - LOGIC

LIOnel tried to login to his father's tablet but was struggling to remember the PIN. Suddenly he remembered the logic used to choose the PIN. It was all to do with the number of letters in the day of the week - S:6, M:6, T:7, W:9. He typed in 6679 and to his relief he was able to impersonate his father. [NB, I have never used this PIN before and Lionel's need to gain access was innocent!]

676 - METRO

Once upon a time ThERe was an experimenter called Hubert. On this occasion he was experimenting with nitre. He was pleased with the firework sparklers he'd made. He took a photo of them in action and wanted to frame it so he cut some wood into mitre joints and assembled a half-decent frame with which he was pleased. He then went back to retry making some sparklers and set off for his niece's birthday party. The party was a fair distance away, so he used the metro to get there. The sparklers were a great success at the party.

675 - JOKER

ThERe he was On Thursday, Roger yawning (he was quite a dozer) and remembering to cover his mouth. His next-door neighbour had sent his drone up and, as it was in the hover, it filmed Roger as he drifted off to sleep. So you can see that it was unlikely that Roger would ever be a mover or motivator. Getting bored with his current situation he packed his bags and once more resumed being a rover. As he walked beside the road a juggernaut passed by too close and he felt a tug on his backpack - he thought he was a goner. At the next town he entered the casino; there was a ching as the door opened. As he played a game of poker he was delighted to draw a joker in two consecutive games which enabled him to win the games and make a lot of money.

674 - DITTO

Jack and Jill went into the sTatIOn café. "I'll have a cappuccino please", said Jack to the barista who then looked at Jill. "Ditto", said Jill.

673 - UNZIP

Jack Parks his car In the Underground car park. He goes to a lifestyle shop and buys an item. After that he heads to his favourite café and quips with the waitress Jill who gives as good as she gets. Whilst waiting for his order he examines his purchase. There is a booklet attached to the purchase which he starts reading. He learns that the decorative cords he'd bought is modelled on an ancient Peruvian quipu. As he starts to unpin the booklet from the cords, his order arrives so he has to put it aside to see to later. As Jill serves the order she remarks that he really ought to update his clothing as it was rather unhip. "I finish my shift in half an hour - if you like I can take you shopping" offers Jill. Jack is delighted with the offer so before long  they head for the shopping mall. He is trying on various jackets but gets in a pickle when one of them refuses to unzip. It takes Jill and the sales assistant 15 minutes to sort him out. Eventually he returns home laden with more than he set out to get. 

672 - BROKE

Eloise's alaRm went off. "Time to rouse myself", she thought. She slipped on her moiré negligée and staggered to the bathroom. When she caught sight of her face in the mirror she froze - she was a mess. Meanwhile Derek awoke from his uncomfortable prone position and started to drone on about getting a new mattress. Once they were ready for the day they drove to the studio to continue writing their prose. They would spend all morning there before heading to the grove to tend to the apple trees. They had a shock when one of the branches just broke off without warning. Fearing that the tree had become diseased they went to check it but the tree was quite healthy. Unbeknown to them, Alfonse's friend and next-door neighbour had been experimenting with his own gamma-ray machine (see 671 - KAYAK), with the apple tree as his target!

671 - KAYAK

Alfonse went into his laboratory and started up his equipment. Today he was aiming to generate some gamma rays from his chunk of radium ore he had bought on eBay. He started up his equipment and generated his deadly ray. An innocent starling fell off his branch and was finished off by the fox who happened to be passing. Alfonse's neighbours thought he was pretty wacky and they weren't wrong. As Alfonse was launching his kayak one Saturday, the armed police turned up and arrested him as a terrorist suspect. In the end he was released without charge, though his radium and test equipment were seized.

670 - PLATE

The eLevATor took Steve up to the hotEl's top floor. He was dressed in a nondescript hoody and had his T-shirt pulled up to cover much of his face. He worked his way down floor by floor looking at the objet d'art on display there. On the 15th floor he spotted a delightful-looking inlaid bowl that he decided to steal and which would just suit his breakfast bar. He walked by nonchalantly taking hold of it. Unfortunately for Steve the item was anchored to the table and, moreover, was attached to an alarm system. Steve was in trouble, and he knew it. Running down 15 flights of stairs left him breathless. After laying low for a bit he made his way to a charity shop and bought a boring-looking plate for £2 that would have to do instead.

669 - THUMP

AT the Party on ThUrsday the party-goers were having a great time dancing the night away. The band were in full flow and the dance floor was full. Anabel whose home was the flat below returned home to find a thump, thump from the ceiling and groaned. She called her best friend and asked if she could sleep at hers for the night.

668 - HOUND

ThOUgh Gilbert had had a substantial lunch, the smell of dough rising drew him to the kitchen. There he found all sorts of tempting snacks and was just about to bite into a croissant when the cook came in. "Here, what are you up to", shouted the cook and she let the dog out to chase Gilbert. Gilbert feared for his life and legged it, making for a tree to climb. He finished up on a bough far enough away from the hound who was yelping at him from below. Feeling safe, Gilbert relaxed against the trunk and finished off his croissant.

667 - WHIFF

ElIsa was enjoying herself in the lifestyle shop. She was listening to the ching ching sound of the wind chimes, trying to decide which one to buy. But then Alfie in his pushchair became all whiny. So Lisa quickly chose what she wanted. By then there was a definite whiff from Alfie so Lisa paid for the chime and beat a hurried retreat to the changing rooms.

666 - DWELT

Elsa walked elegantly down the red carpet but as she reached the Limousine she sTumblEd, tripping over her stole and landing awkwardly on the car seat with one of her legs trapped under the open door. Unfortunately the filming cameras were rolling and her inelegant entry made it onto the evening news on the telly. Elsa's rival watched this with a great exult of triumph - surely Elsa would fade and her rival's time to rise to stardom had come. But Elsa took on the faux pas as a centrepiece for an expansion of her acting roles making her even more the queen of the stars. So, along with everyone else, Elsa's rival knelt before her at the next awards presentation. Elsa's fame meant she became very wealthy owning several properties and it became difficult to know which one she dwelt in on any given week.

665 - AGONY

It had been an extrAOrdinary day for Melanie. Meeting her 70-year-old aunt for the first time had been a shock and a delight. For some strange reason her family had kept her existence a secret from Melanie. She was so keen to find out more about this mystery aunt. As she probed she discovered that her aunt wrote a newspaper column in which she gave answers to readers' questions. "So you are in fact an agony aunt", exclaimed Melanie and they chuckled. "How come I've never heard of you?". Melanie's aunt replied "Well I do write under the pseudonym of Dr Goff!"

664 - THIEF

ThE safari park's owner awoke grumbling - his gouty feet were bothering him. He seemed beset with problems. The steep bank around one of the enclosures had given way during the recent wet weather and the civet had escaped. Then there was the mystery of the missing traffic cones. The only explanation was that a thief had stolen them during the night. It was time to contact the insurance company. Maybe next week would be better.

663 - CARAT

The BAT and Retriever pub is a pleasant place to tarry. The pub garden consists of a garth quadrangle. However this afternoon the peaceful surroundings are spoiled by the sobs of Felicity who is fraught by the loss of her wedding ring. Several of the other guests have taken pity on her and are searching the garden. "Is this it?", exclaims one of those searching. Felicity hurries over and, with great delight, confirms it is. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you", she says to the finder, kissing him on the cheek more than once. "It is very special to me and is quite valuable, since it's made from 24 carat gold."

662 - BORAX

MARy sOon had her meal ready and enjoyed her korma and rice. After the meal she headed to her craft room and set about making some more jewellery. First, she had to prepare the borax flux using the special cone and dish. Then she was able to solder the jewellery and be sure the gold solder would flow easily.

661 - QUALM

The fishermen cast their nets over the side of the boat in the big LAke. After twenty minutes they caught a huge shoal of fish. They were so excited and could hardly wait to register their claim for the largest haul of fish. The town official asked how many they had caught. "152" said the fishermen in unison. The official was about to award them the accolade but had a qualm, or gut feeling, that there was a bigger one once. Having carefully checked he said "No, I'm afraid yours is not the biggest catch. Peter and his mates caught 153 last year when Rabbi Jesus, the resurrected carpenter, told them when to fish."

660 - UNDER

In the 18th and 19th cEntuRies child labour was common, with, for example, noisy textile mills employing children as young as eight or nine. They would be employed to do piecening which involved repairing broken threads. This required them to work under the massive looms. Their working conditions were dreadful and it took many decades for the practices to cease.

659 - SNAFU

JAke, the reporter, was pUzzled why the clamour for Stories had ceased, or at least, paused. Asking around he discovered that someone had written a controversial article that had put the paper in a bad light. "I expect they wish they could unsay that", he said to a colleague. He felt he had to find a story to distract from the current problem. So off he went, camera at the ready, looking for a story. He came across Rishi Sunak and Susan Elan Jones meeting for a coffee and hot-cross bun in a humdrum café in Tower Hamlets. He bought a mug of disgusting coffee and tried to eavesdrop. They were swopping MP stories with much mirth. There was no story here, so Jake went back to the office where things were snafu - he felt more comfortable like that for some strange reason!

658 - LEDGE

"'If you eat a LargE lemon every day it will stop you from growing too leggy'", is a little known, and now forgotten, 'old wives' tale' which probably did no one any harm. On the other hand using a leech for every ailment was a misuse of a valuable medical procedure and which did harm people." She was talking nonsense to distract him. She had meanwhile managed to creep up to the same level as him. Finally with one swift move she leapt forward, grabbed his ankles and yanked, pulling him off the ledge of the building and saving his life. The others rushed forward to help him calm down and start talking about what lead him to this point in his life.

657 - LOCUS

The town of LOoe in Cornwall is the actual town where mUch of the filming takes place and which is called Shipton Abbot in the hit series "Beyond Paradise". However the narrative makes out that Shipton Abbot is in Devon, with, for example, Margo waving the Devon flag in the closing sequences of the last episode of Series 1. But the actual locus of the various episodes is the region bordering the River Tamar which is the border between Devon and Cornwall.

656 - LEAFY

Farming the LAnd can bE a tricky process. Too little rain and the soil becomes like concrete. But heavy rainfall can leach out minerals from the soil which are important for plant growth. If a dog slips its leash it can harass the sheep. If the hedgerow trees get too tall and leafy, the crops nearby could be stunted by lack of light. Upon reflection I won't take up farming!

655 - SMASH

Close to the coASt the Dowler Mining Company was operating. There was all the hubbub of explosions, noisy trucks transporting the mined ore and the loading of the railway wagons. Regularly the ore needed someone to assay it to check its quality, so a piece would be taken to the on-site laboratory inside a shack. At  lunch-break time some of the workers would take a short walk to the beach to de-stress, watching the waves come in and walking barefoot through the swash. Just a few of these workers had become health-conscious, so on occasions you could see one smash an avocado to spread on their sourdough bread as they sat on the beach.

654 - RATIO

The days were lengthening, the air getting milder and the new LARch cones were appearing. It was a great time of the year, but Trev was pretty ratty. The ratch had fallen off the shaft and he could no longer use the ratchet to keep the hose in place when extended. Whilst waiting for the mechanic to come and repair it, he had time to ponder. "I wonder what the ratio of mechanics to machines is?", thought Trev. "I guess I'll never know." Just then the mechanic drove up and had the machinery fixed in no time.

653 - FLORA

"What a lovely LARge monarch butterfly - it certainly has a royal look about it", said Flora as she clicked her camera several times.

652 - STOCK

Hank arose, did his daily exercises, brushed his teeth and threw on some clothes. He had a couple of pieces of TOaSt and peanut butter with coffee to give himself a boost and was ready for the day. He set up his plough and cart horses and set about ploughing the stony field. At noon he stood back to take stock of his labours. Although there was more to do, Hank was satisfied with what he and his horses had accomplished.

651 - MARCH

At the stARt of this yarn Hairy Harry is watching the drought parch the land. But finally the weather changes and days of heavy rain convert the land into a marsh. Finally Harry's orders to move his troops come through and he groans "This is going to be a draining march we will be going on".

650 - EVERY

Sir Archibald was thE gRumpy squire of the district. For example, one morning he had complained to his servants that there was only one berry left in the fruit bowl despite never having berries for breakfast. The servants were relieved when Sir Archibald left the house - they could go about their daily chores in peace - changing beds, emptying Archibald's jerry and so on. Meanwhile, Sir Archibald would go to the ferry that took him to the island where his favourite drinking hole was and where he could set about making merry with the clientele. But when he got back home his mood would switch and the servants would have to endure him till bedtime. It was the same every day and explained the rapid turnover in staff.