Royal dishes for pins, rings and other things

The other day I came across a couple of rather battered looking biscuit tins among the things my now deceased  mother-in-law had given me. I fully expected them to be filled be photos and souvenirs upon opening, but oh no, it was yet another set of what I call Royalophile little trinket and commemorative dishes. I sort of grouped them by what they were about and at least three of them were about the marriage of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spenser back there in July 1981.  So I've dutifully photographed them and posted them up on Ebay for sale as I really don't know what else to do with them. I'm not a collector of these items myself and I'm hoping there's a at least a few persons out there in Ebay land who would want these. They are all quite pretty and have interesting images on them and some are gilded. They are all made in England so I am fairly certain she acquired them while on trips to the old country.  The best use of them is probably as pin dishes (like glue a magnet on the underside!) or as ring catchers beside the kitchen or laundry sink. Or maybe use them as soap dishes?  Natch, I have put up the biscuit tins for sale also on Ebay!
Follow up Note: It looks like I've sold all of these on eBay now. Very happy they found new homes!

Boy Scouts All Over DC

You couldn't miss seeing at least a few of the Boy Scouts that have been in Washington, D.C. the past couple of weeks. Apparently they had some huge jamboree in northern Virginia and have been visiting all the usual sights that visitors to DC should visit.  I spotted this uniformed crew in Union Station while shopping for trinkets and asked them if they would mind if I photographed them while in the souvenir shop. They kindly agreed and the leader quickly pulled all his mates together and they obligingly posed for me. The whole pack was cheerful, optimistic, respectful, seemed to love their trip and epitomized a boyish natural enthusiasm that is rarely captured in the popular media who tends to focus on what's wrong with the Boy Scouts, rather than what's right.. I forget where this group said they were from but I recollect it was a midwestern state.I learned later that there are almost 3 million boy scouts in America and it was the 100th anniversary of the association and that over 30,000 had come to town for the jamboree.These teenage boys seem like a hidden treasure in our midst!