Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Special Deliveries

Yesterday and today were special days because some things I had ordered last week finally arrived.

Last evening while I was making supper the doorbell rang. Of course, the dogs always go ballistic. By the time the Spousal Unit pushed the hounds out of the way and got to the door to answer, he saw the FedEx guy running back to his truck. I imagine it must be a FedEx or UPS guy's worst nightmare to ring a doorbell and hear multiple dogs barking up a storm.

Anyway, there was a small cardboard box setting by the front step. "Is it my order from Bird Watcher's Digest?" I asked excitedly. My spousal unit confirmed that it was. I knew what was in there, but waited until after supper before opening it.

I have been wanting this Kaufman insect guide ever since it first came out earlier this spring and after reading everyone else's reviews of this book recently, I decided to go to the BWD website and just order it already. Well, wouldn't you know while I was there I found out there was free shipping on orders over $50. Such a deal, so to make it worthwhile, I also ordered the Kaufman butterfly guide, and a really nice little Pajaro field bag to carry around all the books and other assorted birding paraphernalia on my bird hikes. (Another bonus: both books included the autographed Kenn Kaufman bookplate--that's the little white card between the 2 books.)

Today in the mail my monarch butterfly tagging kit arrived. Twenty-five little number-coded dots to apply to monarch wings and the data sheet to record how many butterflies I tag with which number.
I will have two more monarch butterflies emerging in the ranch tomorrow morning, so they will be tagged as JLA 050 and JLA 051.

I checked on the internet this morning and found out that Rochester, Minnesota is at 43.55 latitude. The chart indicated that the peak monarch migration for my latitude occurs approximately the first 2 weeks in September....can it be? only 2 weeks away?

11 comments:

NM High School Sports News said...

It is Christmas for you in August! How cool! I love the monarch tags! I can't wait to hear about your tagging experience.

Ron

Anonymous said...

You will love those Kaufman guides for sure! Quick Question, do you tag the big mon@rch's also?

Larry said...

I love getting new stuff like that in the mail!-Enjoy.

Jayne said...

How fun! Tagging your babies! Enjoy the field guides.

Ruth said...

I do most of my book shopping on the internet now and love getting packages in the mail. I think I have added the Kaufman guides to my wish list already.
ruth

Anonymous said...

Interesting books you got there girl, did you stay up late just looking at them? A neat bag to put them in, will your bird guides fit in there too? You'll always be prepared. Good luck!!!!!
MOM

RuthieJ said...

Hi Ron,
Christmas is right! I think I should get into the habit of ordering little presents for myself more often.

Hi Tom,
I really like the photo format of the Kaufman field guides.

Sorry, I'm kinda dense sometimes, so I'm not sure what your question means. Right now I'm planning to tag the monarch butterflies emerging in my ranch and if I have extra tags, I may try to catch some wild ones in the backyard (but I think they're all big).

Thanks Larry, I'm already enjoying them.

Hi Jayne,
It's going to be an interesting experience. Hopefully the butterflies won't mind!

Hi Ruth,
I know I should try to buy locally to keep the business with my local retailers, but the free shipping and no sales tax (plus no gas needed to drive the car to the store) really appeals to me.

Hi Mom,
That little bag holds tons of stuff--I probably won't be able to stand up straight!

Mary C said...

Enjoy those butterfly and insect guides, Ruthie. I've added them to my wish list, and hope to order them for myself in a few weeks.

Anonymous said...

Just read your answer and I'm LOL. How about a back pack?
MOM

Mary said...

Woo Hoo! A banner day. I love deliveries.

Two weeks away? You will need to prepare yourself, Ruth! LOL!

RuthieJ said...

Hi Mary C,
You will like those field guides when you get them. I can tell I'm going to be referring to them almost as much as my bird field guides.

Hi Mom,
Maybe I should have gotten the smaller bag so I would just have to carry less....but if I used the backpack I could pack a little lunch too, hmmmm.

Hi Mary,
Do Bella and Chloe go nuts when the doorbell rings too? How about when they hear a doorbell on TV?