Some Things Never Change

One of our favourite parts of the Smithsonian Museum complex is the tiny Renwick. We always go to check out the exhibits. This time we were pleased with the enamel show and displeased with the pottery so you're only seeing the enamel work.

Wandering down the street, we went to the Daughters of the American Revolution - DAR for short - building. We'd never been inside before, maybe because one of us is a DGL - Daughter of the Guys who Lost. The lady in charge of the beautiful library is a Brit who said all had been forgiven.

Each state had been given a room to furnish according to a certain period.The Maryland room of 1779.

The Kentucky room caused laughter. After the British burned down the White House during the War of 1812, President Monroe ordered an expensive set of gilt chairs from France to replace furniture lost in the fire. Congress rose up and demanded the order be cancelled and instituted an "American made" policy - the 1800's version of "Make America Great Again", I guess. The chairs came from Kentucky.

Then we visited another of the small Smithsonians - the Anacostia. This used to be the museum that focused on African American history but has now been replaced by the big, new African American museum on the Mall. Now the exhibits focus on the Latinx community which is growing rapidly in the city.

On the home front, the big news is the arrival of the Instapot. This is Janelle's birthday present from her father and in-laws. It's a combined crock pot, rice cooker, pressure cooker, anything you want to cook cooker. We had a delicious roast beef dinner, start to finish 2 hours, everything including the gravy made in (drum roll, please) the Instapot. She was very pleased with the results. We all were.

And to finish off, Liam had us in stitches trying out a piece of modern patio furniture.