Wednesday Blog Fun

Time for a fun party.... 

HODGEPODGE WEDNESDAY

This is my first time to play in this party,
but I've been seeing others having fun there
so I decided THIS is the Wednesday I will
give it a try.

The questions for each week are posted at
From This Side of the Pond each TUESDAY
so you can prepare your post for WEDNESDAY.

1. What summer activity most takes you back to your own childhood?
...catching lightening bugs... swimming...wienie roasts...picnics.
A lot of my childhood memories for summer go back to the summertime visits to my daddy in Dallas. The two places he always took my cousin and I are the zoo...and Fair Park, which is a huge amusement park there in Dallas. Needless to say, even tho I am now 76 years old....the two favorite summer places I like to go...zoos and amusement parks. I never really got to know my dad very well..I was 7 when they divorced, but I did spend part of summers with him.
 Every time the man at the midway tried to "guess my age", he always missed it and I would win a beautiful chalk doll...I learned many years later that my daddy would stand behind me, waving a $5 bill to get the man to NOT guess my correct age. Somehow, that tells me a lot about the man that was my dad. Ever so often, all my life, I've cried over not  getting to really know him. Divorce takes so much away from the children. Things that seem little, at the time, can stay with the child all their life.
** WHOA...sorry ....I got carried away here.

2. What's your favorite summer smell?
...freshly cut grass....rain...lilacs 

3. It's beach season in the US of A...so how do you feel about sand?
...OOO, i love sand...i love going to the beach

4. Sun tea, SunChips, sunflower seeds, Capri Sun, Sunny Delight, Sun-Maid raisins, sun-dried tomatoes...your favorite food or beverage with sun in its name?
SUNkist Tuna

5. What's your favorite way to cool off on a hot summer day?
...jumping into the pool for a little swim...iced tea...napping on fresh, crisp sheets beneath the air conditioner...:)

6. Share a favorite song with the word sun or sunshine in it's title.
...♪ ♪...Walkin' in the Sunshine ♫♫...Roger Miller....1967

7. Tell us about a time you had an exceedingly good or truly awful customer service experience. If it was awful, did you report it? Ever go back there again?
What happened with my daughter was the first image I got regarding an exceedingly GOOD experience. She has 4 children and they were all small  and with her at the time. She'd been doing errands all day long, grocery shopping, and shopping for clothes for the kids....she was so tired by the time they needed to head home (live in the country)...the day had been long, she'd encountered several BAD customer service workers and was on the verge of tears when she went inside to order a pizza to take home for dinner. She, being on a strict budget back then, had a coupon for 50% off on 2 large pizzas....started going thru her purse to find it and.....it just wasn't there. Trying to smother her tears, she told the worker to cancel the order and started out....the boy behind the counter called out to her, she went back inside, and he said, "awww, you can have the two pizzas for half off...you don't have to give me a coupon, I trust you had one and misplaced it."....Of course, my daughter lost it, burst out crying and told him, "you are the only person that's been nice to me all day long."
Needless to say, she went back to that pizza place many many times.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
Summertime is such a special time of the year. Kids out of school, swimming pools open and ready for business, ice cream just seems to taste twice as good in summer...I'm so thankful that I've been given another summer to enjoy here with my family. At the ripe old age of 76, even each DAY is 
a blessing, much less each season. Enjoy your Summer of 2014.....I surely am. :) 

*****************************************************************

MORE

SUNSHINE....

(I may or may not have
got a little heavy on the color of this cake...:>)

This is a really good cake....moist, flavorful and perfect for SUMMER....♥

SUNSHINE BUNDT CAKE ♥

1 pkg. yellow cake mix

1-3oz box of Instant Lemon Pudding

3/4 cup fresh orange juice ( i used bottled)

1/2 cup oil

4 eggs

1 teaspoon Lemon Extract

****

GLAZE

1/3 cup orange juice

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter

**

MIX all ingredients together and pour into well greased bundt pan.

Cook at 325 for 50 to 60 minutes. (Mine was just right at 40 minutes..so be sure to check)

Let it cool for a few minutes, then turn out onto a  FABULOUS cake plate.

ONCE COOLED..

In a small saucepan, add 1/3 cup OJ

2/3 sugar

1/4 cup butter

about 2 minutes.

DRIZZLE THIS LUSCIOUSNESS ☼

all over this beautiful cake.

Now, this topping is very VERY thin..it's a SYRUP, really...

I put some of it on my cake and saved the rest for when it was sliced.

Have a slice of SUNSHINE cake, ORANGE SHERBERT,

 and Paula Deen's

CANDIED WALNUTS......(O HONEY)

and I can PROMISE YOU,

you will be 

♫♫ Walkin' in the sunshine....

sing a little sunshine song....♥☼ ♥  ♪♪♫

ALSO JOINING THIS NEW PARTY:
Wed.Around the World