2016 draws to a close

Next-to-last night of the year, spent at Fortify Restaurant in Clayton, with Andrew & Hillary.

Forest fire smoke

Smoke settles in over Lake Burton, mostly from the forest fire up the Tallulah River Road, about ten miles away.

Stuff flows uphill!

We have installed a major upgrade to our septic system, in which a pump in the old septic tank diverts the effluent from flowing into the old drain field (across the street), and sends it uphill instead. At the top of the property, we have a new septic tank and new drain field. So all our old worries about overloading the original septic system are now ancient history. Flush at will!

New tank buried up the hill.

Bobby Welch and his boys did this difficult work. Good job!

Work included adding a concrete bottom to the old tank next to the house;
previously, it had only walls and a top. The septic pump required a concrete base.

Another street name

Off Polly Gap Road, on the lower slopes of Screamer Mountain, east of downtown Clayton.

Fish platter

Turned from a spalted piece of maple that almost got tossed in the burn pile. Looks a bit like a round fish heading to the right. This was donated to the 2016 Habitat Hoedown fundraiser in Clayton.