1198 - RIDER

ERic is a noisy giver of joy. Today he is heading to the beach to take the part of a clown. He jumps on his cycle, heads through the wider of the two archways and down the road. He calls in to the convenience store and pays a fiver for some boiled sweets. At the pier there's a bit of a kerfuffle which turns out to be a diver who'd got into difficulties and who'd needed rescuing. After that Eric is able to start his entertainment routine starting by being a cycle rider doing crazy things and throwing sweets to the children.

Eric entertaining the children

1197 - BRAIN

AaRon was up to no good! But the rubber-tipped arrow he fired from his e-scooter missed its mark by a wide margin. Perhaps he should not have drank that last pint! Watching what happened to the arrow distracted him and there was a loud crash as Aaron fell off his e-scooter. His prank on his friend had totally misfired. He limped home pushing his wonky e-scooter looking very dejected. He fixed himself a piece of whole-grain toast with honey and drank some water. "It would appear that I didn't use my brain too well when planning that prank", thought Aaron to himself.

Aaron fell off his e-scooter

1196 - FAITH

ThAT evening his meal had a definite taint to it. He complained to his landlady who said it was nothing to worry about. "Have lots of gravy on it and any strange taste will be quite faint. Have faith in my cooking - you've enjoyed every other meal I've prepared", she replied.

Lots of gravy was the answer

1195 - THANK

Kylie was AsTonished at the transformation of the decorative wood tray. "Do you think that's had its quota of stain yet? Thank you for making a lovely job of it.", she said to Ryan. "Actually, it's got another couple of layers to go on before it's done. But I'm glad you like it already.", replied Ryan.

The decorative stained tray

1194 - TORCH

TeResa had set herself quite a task. She had quite a few hazel sticks which she was proceeding to strip. Once she had completed forty sticks she felt she had enough strips of bark to make a decorative torus. But it was all taking longer than she expected and towards the end she had to work by torch light.

The finished torus

1193 - HANDY

"WhAt on earth", exclaimed Dad as the room next door erupted into a noisy pandemonium. "How could a fancy dress party get like this", he pondered as he went in to investigate. All the children were standing on the table screaming their heads off as the mangy stray cat prowled around the room. Dad tied a small hard toy into a knot in his hanky and used it as a weapon to chase the cat outside. The party soon settled down again to laughter, eating and games galore. Mum said to Dad, "I'm glad you were handy to sort out that cat problem - I wouldn't have known what to do".

The fancy dress party before it alll went wrong

1192 - STEAM

AT Eight-O-clock Gavin was famished after a hard day's work. He fancied a meaty stake with chips and cauliflower cheese. But his wife had other ideas and served him some Chinese steam buns. Knowing Gavin, his wife said to him "these are more healthy than what you had in mind"!

Steam Buns

1191 - TEACH

"And That, my chEeky young fellow, will teach you a lesson", said the stern headmaster, as the cane came cracking down.

The caning

1190 - SEVEN

ThEy were examining the microwave very carefully. "There mustn't be any chink in the microwave's metallic mesh cage otherwise we could get hurt", said the two women to each other. Once they were satisfied they put a toughened glass jug of water and nuked it on full power. As this was the first time they'd seen a microwave in action, they were both very nosey and their heads almost collided as they got as close as possible to watch. When the water boiled it was almost explosive, making quite a mess. "I think we should unsee that, as it taught us nothing and go and read the instructions instead", said one gloomily to the other. They both hated reading instructions and it took each of them seven times before they felt confident to face the microwave again.

Getting ready to watch the water boil

1189 - SMOKE

ThEre was a persistent knocking at the front door. In the living room there was a different noise as Mark was trying to shove the stolen spode china in the chimney breast. He hurriedly lit the fire and, glancing back to make sure there was smoke, he casually opened the front door. "I'm sorry - I was in the midst of lighting a fire which accounted for the delay", explained Mark, trying to look innocent. But Albert of the Yard (See 1178 - DEBIT) knew a thing or two and Mark was soon in handcuffs and the stolen goods recovered.

Some of the spode china Mark had stolen

1188 - PRESS

LunchtimE was veRy busy with the inevitable noise one would expect. She picked up an egg and cress sandwich, a packet of crisps and a can of coke. But there was such a press at the pay tills that it took ages to get her food and the rest of lunchtime was then busy trying to finish the food before she had to get back to work.

Egg and cress sandwich

1187 - FULLY

ALways on a Tuesday, under the holly bush stood the filly eating a bag of oats held by the gilly called Billy. It was usually a scene of peace and calm, but this Tuesday something was amiss. What was it that could sully the scene? There was clearly something on Billy's mind so that his relationship with the young horse was dully, so much so that the horse didn't fully finish the oats. Whatever it was had gone by next Tuesday and the scene was back to normal.

Feeding the young horse

1186 - BEAUT

Alex was enjoying ThE peace and quiet of the classroom whilst the kids screamed and ran around outside. He ate his meaty burger whilst he prepared what he was going to teach next lesson. But just then two boys burst in, shattering the peace. "Why, you have a beaut of a black eye, Carlos", remarked Alex. "But why are you here, Sean", asked Alex. "Probably because I hit Carlos in the eye", sulked Sean, "though he was asking for it". "Right, Sean, I want you to soothe Carlos's eye with some swabs and ice - there's the first aid kit and you know where the fridge is. Be careful not to put any pressure on Carlos's eye."

Carlos's eye

1185 - HONEY

It was night timE and it should have been quiet. But tonight was noisy, what with the foxes squabbling, the owl at full blast and the local dogs all a-jitter. However there was one run-down boney fox quietly on the prowl looking for a good meal of a coney or two. Also there was a rather satisfied bear who'd found a bee's nest and was tucking into the honey. Sometimes it pays not to make a fuss!

The fox after the coney

1184 - RECUR

Eloise was excited to have a chance to decoRate her room. Her parents were quite apprehensive, wondering what a sight the room might be. But they needn't have worried because Eloise had very sensible ideas about the décor she wanted. Late that day she proudly showed her Mum and Dad her room. "With this décor I won't be getting those awful nightmares that would recur night after night with the old décor", she announced.

Eloise's new décor

1183 - BROAD

Rob is a keen AngleR and had been out early that morning and caught a couple of roach from the lake. He was not very kind to his brother Frank and played a prank on him. He put one of the roach in a bottle of water and tied the fishline to the inside of Frank's trousers so that when Frank put them on, the poor fish was pulled out of the water and started flapping around inside his trousers! Frank had a nasty shock, spent ages getting the poor fish back into the water and then finding some dry trousers. To get his own back, Frank set up an array of wind-up toys behind the arras in the breakfast room. Whenever he wanted, Frank could set one of the wind-up toys going without having to get up. Rob was quite unnerved by these mysterious noises. Frank made out it was the woodland dryad that had set up home behind the arras - this freaked Rob out even more. Then Rob caught Frank with a broad grin on his face and the two brothers made peace and vowed not to play pranks on each other again.

Rob's early morning catch

1182 - HARSH

Plymouth ARgyle F. C. were rehearsing their tactics for the next game. Wayne was saying "We need to harry their players as much as possible because they have some excellent scorers. It's going to be harsh conditions for us, so stick to the plan lads."

Wayne gathering the players

1181 - BRASS

The town hAd a lovely bay which the Residents enjoyed using. But today alarms were sounding because of a shark cruising in the water. Some teenagers from the town tried to play a prank on the shark to frighten it away but they only just got their ankles out of the way in time. The town's nutty professor set up his own contraption powered by electricity which generated a big spark between two brass spheres. Once this got close to the water the shark was most discombobulated and left the bay in a hurry.

Before the swimmers got out of the way

1180 - AISLE

LAuriE was checking out the latest suggestion for her wedding venue. The church looked quite compact so she was uncertain it would be appropriate. But once she got inside and saw the scale of the aisle, her jaw dropped. "That is just what I wanted, though I'll have to pick a different piece of entry music so that it lasts long enough", she cried out. The decision had been made.

The Aisle that Laurie loved

1179 - REBEL

LEs was foRever glued to his electronic game machine. His parents were distraught and decided to deprive Les of it for a time. Les thought this was very cruel and found lots of ways to rebel against Mum and Dad. This brought Les no satisfaction and it seemed as if he was getting the worst out of the standoff. So one day he decided to change and take up his Dad's challenge of making miniature wooden models. This was much more satisfying and even resulted in the return of his electronic game machine. But now he spent less time on it because of his new craft skill.

One of Les's creations

1178 - DEBIT

TEddy had saved up a long time for his cycle. He'd had to borrow a bit from his Dad to equip it fully. So the theft of it so soon was a big blow and left his meagre finances in debit. Fortunately the theft had been captured on a neighbour's CCTV system and Albert of the Yard had been quick to apprehend the culprit and retrieve the cycle. Teddy decided there and then that he would grow up to be a policeman.

Teddy's bike being stolen

1177 - DRAWN

The CEO of the ARgrip company announced at the board meeting that the company needed revitalising including being given a new brand. He produced his own sketches of the new brand that he'd drawn on his way to the offices in his chauffeur-driven limousine that morning. The marketing board members winced at the sight and realised they'd have a tough job producing a descent new brand that bared any resemblance to the CEO's sketches.

One of the CEO's brand sketches

1176 - OWNER

It was a damp drizzly day and Jack wishEd his tRansport wasn't a moped! To take in the scene he pushed up the visor to get a better view. There was Andy practicing to be a roper and Roger practicing to be a rower. As the owner of the paddleboard, Jack got his wet suit on and headed out onto the lake which was so calm and forgiving today. In his proper gear, the drizzle was of no consequence.

Paddleboarding in the rain

1175 - RERUN

As hE enteRered the yard, the noise took him back to his youth. His visits to his grandparents on Shetland were happy times, despite the simple living conditions. The regular use of the quern for grinding grain for making the next day's porridge was so familiar. He was quite surprised to hear the same noises after all this time, but his grandparents would still rerun the same routine day after day.

His grandparents working the quern stone

1174 - WIDEN

ThE restaurant was noisy. Pete pined for the noisiness of home, rather than this place. But his boss, Greg, wanted to celebrate not being fined and had insisted the team gather here to be wined and dined. But Pete was smart and left his phone on audio-record during the evening, gleaning lots of information. On reviewing the recording the next day he found he'd mined enough of Greg's dodgy dealings to take it to Greg's bosses. Greg didn't get to savour his triumph for very long before he found himself leaving the company with no job. Pete thought this would widen his career prospects, but, although the bosses were grateful for Peter's help, they weren't keen on promoting a snitch either.

The noisy celebration meal

1173 - STERN

Ryan was having increasing difficulTy maintaining his imagE of a bRute (see 1160 - BRUTE). The lad he rescued spread the word about what a kind thoughtful man Ryan was. His friends, whilst initially shocked by the apparent change in personality, began to realise it was just an act. It was time for Ryan to ditch his stern expression, though he loved his Harley Davidson Trike and as soon as he could he changed his gear to look less threatening.

Ryan doing a good deed for 70-year-old

1172 - FAINT

AT lunch they went to a salad bar. He chose a lovely mix of salads with a big piece of Stilton cheese. "I can't have the same as you - Stilton has this horrible smell and looks all wrong. Are you sure there isn't a taint to it?", she said. "Oh, you are missing out - Stilton is lovely - smooth and with lots of flavour.", he replied. She wanted to please him so she ordered the same. There was a long pause before she actually had a bite of the Stilton. Then it was time for the verdict. "When I put the Stilton in my mouth I thought I was going to faint, but the phobia vanished on enjoying that first mouthful."

Fig and blue cheese salad

1171 - CAMEL

The LeAvEs of the old tree had become paled with some disease or other. Stuart took the reluctant decision to cut down the beloved hazel tree. Having stripped off the branches, the trunk looked in good condition, so Stuart put it in the outdoor shed to dry out. In idle moments he would dream about what he could make out of it. What about a gravel - but there was no one in the family involved in legal stuff, so that idea was set aside. He started thinking about making a model of the tower of babel, but considering what happened to the original planners, he thought better of pursuing that. At last he settled on the idea of making a model of a camel, although he needed to enlist the skills of his young artistic daughter Grace to make the fine detail.

The camel

1170 - MUSHY

Gary had been a successful financial trader, yet alcohol had become his friend and gradually his other friends, his family and his job said goodbye to him. Now his home was the streets and sadly most of what was put in his collecting bowl was used to acquire alcohol. One day a thoughtful passer by bought him a fish and chip meal, which should have been a real blessing. Instead, Gary was in too much of an alcoholic haze to notice the noisy seagulls circling overhead. It didn't take long before chip-by-chip and chunk of fish by chunk of fish his meal started disappearing. Gary came to his senses in time only to save a tiny piece of fish, 4 chips and a sealed tub of mushy peas. The moral of the story is to beware of alcohol and seagulls!

Gary's chips disappearing fast

1169 - SPOUT

RoberT dreaded this moment. It was his stint to take care of his nephew Lukas. The moment he walked in the door the trouble started as Lukas took aim to shoot Robert with his Nerf Gun. Robert knew that he wasn't supposed to shout at Lukas, yet his instruction to Lukas to desist could be heard from outside the door! Robert attempted to settle Lukas with a reading book. "See how far you can get with this, Lukas", he said. "Incy … Wincy … spider … climbing … up … the … spout - what's a spout, Uncle Robert?", started Lukas. This was going to be slow but at least Robert wasn't likely to be attacked any moment.

Incy Wincy spies a spout