Smiling Faces Greet Linderhof's Visitors . . .

A year ago, I posted my first Met Monday post . . .

About these same urns.
Like last year, the urns with their tired Christmas greenery are just that -- tired!
It did look more festive during December and even in January, the snow on the greens felt wintery. But now, our front entry urns are ready for spring.
With spring comes pansies. One of my favorite flowers for they smile at you. How can you not like a flower that smiles!
Nothing is leafed out on the prairie but with the pansies in the urns, it does feel a little bit of Spring as you walk up the front stairs at Linderhof.
One pot on each side of the front steps.

There were not flats at the nursery and I splurged -- I bought six pots for $4 each! Although they will give me many days of bright color and their blossoms will garnish food both when they're fresh and when they're sugared, it was a bit of a stretch. I decided with only six pots that I would use one type -- the purple, yellow and white variety.

I'll wait to plant the other planters until I can find 4 packs that I can buy a flat at a time. But these front planters really needed spring color.

I especially like the ones with the "whiskers" -- for their smile seems just a bit bigger -- just a bit brighter! Pansies are great for this time of the year as well for they can stand a touch of frost and will go on blooming. They're very hardy and I think that they don't just say "spring" -- they scream spring!

Once again, this is my metamorphosis for Met Monday. It's quite a change to go from winter to spring! Please join Susan at Between Naps on the Porch to see what other changes were wrought this week.

And after an afternoon of tidying up the front of Linderhof -- banishing winter from all the pots even though I only bought enough pansies for the front ones -- is a cup of tea and a nosh.

The nosh . . .

Raisin gems baked in a cast iron gem pan. They're really muffins but my grandmother always refered to the pan as a "gem pan" and the treats as gems. As a child, I thought I was lucky to be offered a fresh gem from the oven especially when there was butter to slather on them. I definitely thought them a gem of a treat and aptly named!

My neighbor also was doing front garden tidying and so I invited her over for tea and gems.

Eaten, not on the front porch but rather in the breakfast room where we watched the antics of the birds.

A small plate of raisin gems to be shared.

I always use my blue and white and I love to mix and match. The cups and saucers bought so long ago at an antique mall are blue with pink roses and birds which seem fitting for a cup of Spring tea. The tea plates and salad plate that the gems are on is Masons Fruit Basket which I also found at an antique mall. The teapot is Spode Blue Italian -- one of my beloved blue and white teapots.

With our garden chores done, we sipped and nibbled and visited the rest of the afternoon away.

It was a great way to spend a warm March Sunday afternoon.

It's also Blue Monday so visit Sally at Smiling Sally to see what other blues there are for this Monday.

The gems are easy to whip up and we make them often for breakfast when toast just won't do. They're good plain or with fruit added to them. (Blueberry is our favorite). Today, they were raisin and besides the raisins had a nice hint of cinnamon and a cinnamon sugar sprinkle on top as well. (And they can be baked in a regular muffin tin as well).

RAISIN GEMS

1/4 cup soft butter

1/3 cup sugar

1 beaten egg

2 cups flour

4 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup sour cream or heavy sweet cream

1/2 cup chopped raisins

1/2 t. cinnamon

Topping: 1 T. sugar and 1/4 t. cinnamon mixed together

Cream together the butter and sugar and egg. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add to the creamed mixture. Then add the milk and sour cream, mixing well. Add raisins and cinnamon and mix again. Spoon into buttered gem pans. Sprinkle the top of each gem with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake in hot oven (400) until brown.

Note: These can be made plain or with the addition of fruit (fresh or dried) or you can even fill the pans half full, add a teaspoonful of marmalade (or jam) and add more dough. Dust these also with the cinnamon/sugar mixture.

It's the first Tea Time Tuesday at Lady Katherine's. Join other tea drinkers this Tuesday for a cuppa!