Blessed Coolness...

The weather, for the most part, has been unseasonably cool here. Very few days in the 90s (as is usual this time of year), mainly 80s and sometimes even failing to get past the 70s during the day. Heavenly for me, as I hate the heat! The nights get down in the 50s...wonderful *sleeping weather*!
The alpacas seem to be enjoying these cool days and nights, as do the goats.

The Darlin' Man graduated from railroad school and is now at his assigned post...in Evansville, Illinois....where he will stay for his probationary period and continued on the job training. I won't see him until next March, unless we are able to financially afford for me to visit him in Evansville before then. We are viewing this the same way we viewed his deployments. His mission this time is to firmly establish his railroad career, my mission is to get the homestead moved north!

A lot of folks have asked why we wouldn't just move to Illinois and establish our homestead there.
Well....uhmmm...it's Illinois! Taxes are too high, we don't like the farming laws, the property prices, the gun laws, etc. Your mileage may vary, as they say. We actually looked in depth at many states and regions before deciding on the New England region. For the longest time, we thought we were going to move to Vermont, but then we looked at how they tax income, especially veterans/military retirement pay.That was what took Vermont out of the running!
It is vitally important to thoroughly investigate where you plan to settle. Read up on it, talk to people that live there, check out politics in the area, etc. The more you know, the better off you will be!