Seasons greetings from Bob and Betsy!
2018 has been a fun and interesting year for us. The big news is that Betsy retired at the end of the year, joining Bob in the ranks of the idle. But he says, “Ha! Just you wait - you’re going to be doing more work now than when you were actually employed!” Our game plan is to sell the family compound in Wesley Chapel (near Charlotte) and move up to Brevard (NC mountains) full time. New address on back.
The Brevard house was radically renovated, making it better destination for both us and guests. Mary Bond was down visiting for a week in late winter. Lindsey and Nathaniel were up to spend a vacation week here. Bob’s cycling friends from Wisconsin, Pat and Bruce, were down for an early season epic bicycling event / multi-birthday celebration in April. Marc and Barbara Woodmansee (honorary Brevard residents) were in for a couple weekends. For celebrity guests we had the Bagleys in during the Summer Music Festival. If you’re in the area, let us know. We have available guest rooms. While the weather here is 99% glorious, visitors seemed to bring their share of rain, fog, sleet, and snow with them, once to the tune of a 16” dumping of snow. That’s the storm of the decade in these parts!
2018 seems to be the year that covered many miles. Bob did three (3!) “around Lake Michigan” road trips, with Betsy coming along on two of them. It’s always great visiting friends and family. Both of our mothers are still toughing it out in Michigan. If you ever get a chance to tour the Kohler factory in, well, Kohler WI, be sure to do it. The bathtub enameling line alone is worth your time.
Bob was able to jump back into bicycling in a bigger way this year. Many miles of new country roads, dirt forest service lanes, and mountain bike trails were explored. The high point of the cycling year was spending a week riding around the high desert and volcanic landscapes of central Oregon with his friends Pat and John.
Betsy is retiring as President of the Charlotte Knitting Guild, but is not bowing out of the world of fiber arts! In addition, she has been accepted into the Transylvania County Master Gardener program for 2019.
In rabbit news, the famous Mr. Skippy, our most favorite rabbit of all time, recently passed away. We figure he was around 10 years old (hard to tell with rescues). Skippy was a fired-up, outgoing critter that just loved everybody. His is survived by his long time soulmate, the suspicious, elusive, and somewhat wild Zeela. As they say, opposites attract. We, along with Zeela, miss him.
Our kids, however, are doing just fine. Paul continues to enjoy living in Madison, WI. Nathaniel is in his last year of Occupational Therapy school, with only a couple internships left before graduation. After that, we think he and Lindsey are looking forward to escaping the crippling heat and the red tides of southern Florida.
Here’s to a happy and healthy 2019 for all!
Contact and social media info:
- Our new address will be: 17 Broadview Circle, Brevard, NC 28712
- Bob 704-989-9230 bob.blichmann@gmail.com
- Betsy 704-292-5378 betsy.j.bond@gmail.com
- Family blog: The BlichBlog is at blichblog.blogspot.com, and is occasionally updated.
- Knitting: Betsy’s knitting creations are found under “Knitbert” on Ravelry.com
- Photography: Bob will post to Flickr when the mood strikes. www.flickr.com/photos/bobblich/albums
- We are both be easily findable on Facebook. And Strava (think Facebook for fitness geeks).
