Roan Creek Campground

Butler, Tennessee

We are parked at Roan Creek Campground outside of Butler, Tennessee, and it is beautiful.  The entire area is a pleasure to see and hear; it delights both the senses and the mind.  The above picture is the backside of our campsite.  It is lush and green everywhere with Roan Creek running through the campground.

This is a video of a kaleidoscope of Tiger Swallowtail butterflies.  

They gathered on the bank, then took off in a group as if playing a game of tag.

The scenery is everything here.  Southern Texas was desert; eastern Tennessee may be the perfect opposite.  The downside, for the moment, is that we have intermittent cell phone signal and absolutely NO television.  Consort and I were both prepared for no television and planned to take a vacation from the same.  I think it's more difficult for me, being the news junkie that I am -- thanks, D! -- but I was definitely due for a break from my 24/7 coverage.  We're working on the spotty cell signal and internet, but for now, it's a no-go.

Around Christmastime, I replaced the comforter on our bed in the trailer.  I like a lot of color in my world, and the new comforter filled the bill.  Consort was pleased that I changed only accessories and did not paint the walls.

The bed cover and shams looked great, but the headboard was really ugly.  It had a solid gold, satin-type fabric in the headboard insets.  I knew the fabric could be replaced and have had my eye out for just the right piece.

While we were on the road, I think maybe in Amarillo,  I found an indoor/outdoor rug at Walmart.  It was $10 and perfectly matched the colors in the comforter.  I wasn't sure how I was going to use the rug, but I picked it up and brought it home with me.

It didn't take long to determine this was the perfect replacement fabric for the headboard.

Consort removed the headboard from the wall yesterday, then I began the task of removing all the staples holding the insets in place.

Once the staples were removed, I measured and cut new panels from the rug to replace the original fabric.  Of course, I chose a rag rug for my fabric, and it is not meant to be cut.  There are heavy yarn threads running throughout the rug that hold it together.  Once I cut the rug to fit the headboard insets, I had to go back and stitch -- by hand, where's my sewing machine?? -- all the edges so the rug wouldn't fall apart.


While I was working on this latest project, we had a mobile RV repair unit at our site fixing another broken cable in a slide.  This is the fourth cable that has snapped on one slide.  We've got to figure out what's causing this problem or learn to fix the problem ourselves.  There are lots of other things we'd rather spend our money on!  But I digress...

As I sat at the kitchen table stitching up the sides of the rug, the repair guys worked on the slide.  It took them a couple of hours to replace two cables.  All the time they were working, and I was stitching, one of the repair guys told stories -- you know, just life experiences.  He was a really good storyteller and made the afternoon fly by in a most enjoyable way.

Consort and I were well pleased with the end results, both the slide and the headboard.


NOTE:  I am writing this blog in a parking lot in front of the Coin Laundry.  We drove a half an hour, more or less, to get into town.  We have grocery shopping to do, a little laundry -- and access to internet and cell phone.  All of this to say, I will blog each time I have access to the World Wide Web.  Bear with me, faithful reader, as I figure out this newest move.