LOL, What should i opt for this week?

[Gumball]

Ruby the Scooby asked in her thread if she should

A- Heat the house this week

or

B- Put petrol in the car.

She then deleted it, so i though i would help you understand whats happening here LOL

blows through

[ANDYJDMSTI]

Tumbleweed or Russian Thistle

Salsola kali

Tumbleweeds entered this country by hiding among imported seeds, but they soon bounded their way from Coast to Coast.

Perhaps the most well-known symbol of the Old West, the tumbleweed actually migrated here from Russia, but that was an accident.

In about every cowboy movie and in images of the Wild West, you will see them - dry, spiny balls bouncing across the desert floor, rolling down the dirt streets of the old towns. Tumbleweeds get their name from the way they catch the wind and tumble along the ground, the ultimate icon of the desolate desert.

But the plant, actually Russian Thistle, is not native to the United States, and was never intended to be brought here to begin with.

Before the 19th century, not a single tumbleweed blew across the United States. But then Ukrainian farmers migrated to North and South Dakota, bringing with them bags of flax seed, a plant used to make linseed oil and linen. Mixed in with the flaxseeds were Russian Thistle seeds, and the farmers unknowingly planted what would in a few years become a great ecological disturbance to many farmers.

The mobile plant took over, covering more than a dozen states in just two decades, and reaching the Pacific Coast by 1900. The plant?s ability to survive in most any climate, and its practically foolproof way of distributing seeds would soon become a problem for many farmers across the country.

Tumbleweeds don?t begin life looking like the skeleton of some forgotten bush. Most people wouldn?t even know one if they saw it in the ground. Bright green, succulent grass-like shoots appear first sometime after winner?s chill. Mice, bighorn sheep and pronghorn eat the tender shoots.

The plant turns colors with every growth spurt, leaving purple or red stripes down the branches. Wherever a leaf meets the stem a small green flower will grow, accompanied by its own protective bodyguards ? a pair of stiff spines. By the time the end of summer draws near, the tumbleweed has flowered and started to dry out.

They could be as small as a basketball, or as large as a compact car, but the majority of tumbleweeds hopping the desert floors range from 1 to 3 feet high when standing still. Special chemicals in the stem allow the plant to easily separate from its roots once it has dried out. Now light and loose the tumbleweed bounces along with the wind. Being shaped like a ball makes for easy traveling.

But they aren?t just bouncing for the fun of it. The journey is the tumbleweed?s way of survival. Tumbling and bouncing along the ground is the way the plant spreads its seeds.

An average-sized tumbleweed can produce up to 250,000 seeds and toss them off during its many miles of wandering. It doesn?t take much for the seeds to grow either. They have no protective coating, only a small coiled embryonic plant wrapped in a thin membrane. Just a little bit of moisture, and the seeds can germinate in less than 30 minutes.

Tumbleweeds grow all around the world and survive in elevations ranging from below sea level to more than 8,500 feet. They can drop their seeds just about anywhere and have a good chance of successful reproduction. This was what caused the tumbleweed to become an obnoxious pest to farmers.

As farmers leveled and plowed the land, they created the perfect playground for the bouncing bushes. Pretty soon the crops were full of live tumbleweed plants, sucking nourishment out of the soil.

Dead tumbleweeds bounced freely, and with those came different problems. The spines dried sharp and could be ruthless, even poking through leather gloves and lacerating horses? legs as they rushed and brushed by on the wind.

Being very dry and light, it also posed a fire hazard. Tumbleweeds caught fire and burned quickly, and were light enough that the wind easily carried them over fire barriers.

People tried all kinds of things to rid themselves of the bouncing pests, including forming fire logs out of them and selling them for fireplaces. It wasn?t until after World War II that a pesticide was developed that stopped the maturity of the plant.

But Russian thistle won?t be disappearing anytime soon. In southern Nevada, where nuclear weapons were tested above ground, Russian thistle was always the first plant to grow again in the soil at the testing site.

Like the cockroach, tumbleweeds will survive.

[RA Dunk]

^^LoL!!^^ i never knew tumbleweeds had such an intresting history?? Hmmmmmm very intersting indeed

[Gumball]

"Tumbleweed," "Russian thistle" and "wind witch" are common names for this symbol of the American west. Russian thistle alludes to its Eurasian origin. Scientific names for tumbleweed include Salsola kali, S. pestifer, S. australis, S. iberica, and S. tragus. Salsola is derived from the Latin sallere, "to salt," in reference to the plant?s salt tolerance. There does not yet appear to be a consensus on the preferred scientific name, although S. tragus is the leading candidate for the inland variety of tumbleweed and S. kali, for the more coastal variety.

Description

Virtually everyone recognizes mature the Russian thistle, which looks like the skeleton of a normal shrub. Plants may be as small as a soccer ball or as large as a Volkswagen beetle. Most people, however, would fail to recognize the seedling and juvenile plant?s bright green, succulent, grass-like shoots, which are usually red or purple striped. Inconspicuous green flowers grow at axils (where leaf branches off of stem) of the upper leaves, each one accompanied by a pair of spiny bracts. Mice, bighorn sheep and pronghorn eat the tender shoots

Habits/Habitats

As it rolls down a desert road, a Russian thistle plants do what they do best, disperse seeds, which typically number 250,000 per plant. Seeds are unusual in that they lack any protective coat or stored food reserves. Instead, each seed is a coiled, embryonic plant wrapped in a thin membrane. To survive winter without a warm coat, the plant does not germinate until warm weather arrives.

When moisture falls, the plant is ready to uncoil and germinate. All that is required are temperatures between 28 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit. It then quickly sends up two needle-like leaves and begins to shoot skyward. By autumn the plant has reached maximum size, flowered and begun to dry out. A specialized layer of cells in the stem facilitates the easy break between plant and root, and the journey begins anew.

Like many invasive weeds, Russian thistle exploited the destruction of native ecosystems. When farmers removed prairie grasses, they created a perfect environment, smooth and flat, for a plant that could roll across the landscape dispersing seeds. Herbicides now control the spread of Russian thistle by disrupting the maturation process of the plant.

Range

Although tumbleweed is native to the arid steppes of the Ural Mountains in Russia, it is now ubiquitous throughout the western states, growing in disturbed soils such as agricultural fields, irrigation canals and roadside shoulders and ditches. Plants thrive in salty and alkaline soils but will generally be outcompeted by natives in undisturbed habitats. Elevation range is from below sea level in Death Valley to over 8500 feet.

Tumbleweeds were first reported in the United States around 1877 in Bon Homme County, South Dakota, apparently transported in flax seed imported by Ukrainian farmers. Within two decades it had tumbled into a dozen states, and by 1900, it had reached the Pacific Coast.

The peregrinating (highly traveled) plant also grows abundantly in Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, Greece, Hawaii, Hungary, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, South Africa and Turkey.

Notes

The Sons of Pioneers made the song Tumbling Tumbleweeds popular in the 1940?s. They did not, however, write the song, which first appeared as a poem in a University of Arizona literary quarterly.

A severe drought in the 1930?s in Canada led farmers to use young tumbleweeds as hay and silage for livestock.

[ANDYJDMSTI]

mmm......i am jolly well liking them apples!!!

[Gumball]

they wee aipples?

[gus the bus]

Sharon, @ your age now, do you not get a winter heating allowance anyway???

Gus

[Gumball]

[wilky]

[Gumball]

no seriously, i think you should..............

[andy]

[billyboy]

I think she will go for the petrol.

[G.T.]

wtf has been happening on here while ive been sleeping, you can have my optimax ruby my car is sittin in the garage with a full tank and no great use for it at the mo. Id go with the heating your house its baltic today

[sharon_mccall]

Glad to have been of such amusement to you guys.

[imprezapete]

...

[jcscoob]

[sharon_mccall]

HO HO HO you guys. An Ode to you all.................

There is this bunch of guys

Who think they're all so wise

They each own a Scottish Scooby

And they take the pi$$ out of Ruby

canny be arsed writing anymore - but feel free to add yer own lines..............

[ANDYJDMSTI]

There is this bunch of guys

Who think they're all so wise

They each own a Scottish Scooby

And they take the pi$$ out of Ruby

It says shes a regular

so she should handle the joke

oh f@ck i can't rhyme

am beginning to choke

[colinj]

There is this bunch of guys

Who think they're all so wise

They each own a Scottish Scooby

And they take the pi$$ out of Ruby

It says shes a regular

so she should handle the joke

oh f@ck i can't rhyme

am beginning to choke

Ruby drives a green scooby

It really gives me the boke

It doesnt have a turbo

I hope she can take the joke

ps - mines green aswell just couldn't think of anything else to rhyme with joke!

[sharon_mccall]

LOL, don't give up the day jobs you two.

Yeah i can take a joke. That's why i started the stupid thread in the first place.

He who last laughs, laughs loudest!!

[Gumball]

There is this bunch of guys

Who think they're all so wise

They each own a Scottish Scooby

And they take the pi$$ out of Ruby

It says shes a regular

so she should handle the joke

oh f@ck i can't rhyme

am beginning to choke

Ruby drives a green scooby

It really gives me the boke

It doesnt have a turbo

I hope she can take the joke

and as she swings into town

the childrens panites turn brown

cos ruby is back, it stings in your sack

and be thankful she wont be back

why i hear you say?

ill tell you another day,

but building up speed to 90 in a 30

in the eyes of the law is gay.

so finally all we can do

is write this poem for you

dont go in the huff like glitter the puff

just parade in your house in the buff

weve all made silly mistakes

we know how much you can take

so pop down to greggs the local bakers

cos they want you to paint faces on cakes

she lives in a house thats cold

as someone said shes quite old

the leccy pilot light is a miss

if she doesnt watch what shes doing

and look what shes chewing

i fear she'll end up rekkin a plss

the green sport blasts into town

the kiddies underchassis turn brown

the sign says 30, but she thinks it says 90

but the men of the law have to frown

so as someone mentioned above

i hope she takes this with love

she knows whats at stake

and shouldnt mistake

that greggs want her to pant faces on cakes

my final words are a stroll

i dont think it should be a drole

be happy your living and have what your given

cos you could be chewing my Pole

<< He who last laughs, laughs loudest!! >>

dime bar, im sure its- "he that laughs last....laughs loudest"

[Gumball]

[scientific steve]

<< << He who last laughs, laughs loudest!! >> >>

no, i thought it was

he who laughs last, doesnt get the joke

[andy]

Applauds gummy. Nice one!

[colinj]

FPMSL - Very nicely put, especially the last bit!!