Challenge: Add 3rd coat of creocote to fence & bake simple sponge cake

Well, I know it is Saturday and I should be making a bigger challenge for myself BUT today is the day I practise more of the Goddess part.  I need to take off all my nail varnish (bitty nails varnish couldn't be tackier), chat to mother (this always eats up an hour; what can I say we are mother and daughter who are also great chums), meet great friend Lou Lou for coffee then onto lunch (despite seeing each other everyday of the working week there is an awful lot to chew over today.  Honest.)

Anyway, for the last 3 weekends - which you won't know about yet as I only started this on Sunday- I have been attempting to teach my self how to bake.  Baking is completely different to cooking.  I am a good cook.  No, I am a great cook (thanks to chef papa) - yes I rock at something!   BUT I cannot bake.  My sister bakes great cakes as does my mother (she obviously inheritated the baking gene, and the skinny naturally gene, and the domestic goddess gene too - nothing fazes my sister domestically.  Am in total envy; although I can challenge her at shopping - she is the best shopping buddy!)  I need baking in my life (not in MY tummy) but baking you can give as gifts and it cheers the soul a good piece of cake in all it's glistening glory with icing, or without icing but smeared in chocolate.....it also makes my husband more happy than he is normally.  That's important to me.  The last 3 weekends I cannot lie to you have not been that successful.  Take the cake I was attempting last Saturday: separate 6 eggs.  Done easy.  Into the egg yolk add the sugar, lemon rind and lemon juice.  No problem except damnit I added them to the egg whites.  We now have a huge amount of merangue that took 5 hours to cook stashed away in a tupperware box.  The week before; the recipe states 11oz caster sugar, I weigh it out and it's not until I need to make the topping do I realise it also says use only 9oz in the cake and the other 2oz for the topping.  Damnit.  Of course it made all the difference.  Now, whilst I am busy today I intend to make a simple vanilla sponge at some point.  Nothing fancy or showy.  I am of course building myself up to making French pastries to serve on Sunday mornings with fresh coffee and orange juice.  I aim high and why the hell not!  Except today... just a simple sponge!