BAKING AGAIN

We've had a bag of apples in the pantry for nearly too long.

Today I got them out and looked for a recipe.

I found one for something called an Apple Slab Cake.

I made it this afternoon, adapting it a bit by putting a Streusel topping on it.

Just had a bite.

It's not bad.

TIME

It's been a busy couple of weeks here since Judy died.

Paperwork, beaucracies, foul-ups, feeding myself, sorting a lifetime of possessions.

Telephone calls, cards, concerned friends.

It all adds up to a process of keeping my mind off of my loss.

But not always.

Some days are slower than others, when I just don't want to face any of that stuff.

When I think of her, which is often, sometimes I chuckle at something she said like the first time the paramedics and firemen came and were hovering over her.

Out of the blue, she said "I can't remember when I've had six men in my bedroom before."

Then there are the times when something pops into my head and just for a second I think "Oh, I've got to tell Judy", before I catch myself.

And there are the times when I get a little teary just remembering her.

So like I said at the start of this, it's been a busy but rough couple of weeks.

Thank you all for your kind comments and actions.

(My next door neighbors came over last night with a big portion of lasagna alfredo and a container full of tiramisu, both homemade, for my meal today.)

As I've told everyone, I'm getting through this and I'm not the first in my family to do it.

My grandfather, my father and my brother all lost their wives.

They all survived and so shall I.

And yes, the Friday Funnies will return.

I'm just not sure when.

Thanks for being there.

THANK YOU

 To all of you who have commented on my post about Judy, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I never knew how many of you were out there . . . lurking, without ever commenting.

I never knew how much of an impact Judy had made on you as well as me.

She and I first met on this date, fifty-five years ago.

She was working for the "Famous Writer's School" and I had written in expressing an interest in their course.

When she reached me by telephone I was thrilled, assuming that she had come from the East Coast, where the school was located, to Indianapolis, where I then lived.

I asked her where she was and she named a nearby hotel and I said "What a coincidence! A friend and co-worker who played drums in a small combo was entertaining in the lounge of that very hotel and I was planning on being there that evening to watch and listen."

We arranged a time and I was late but fell in love at first sight.

We were wearing matching trenchcoats and black turtleneck sweaters.

And for 55 years, every time someone would ask how we met, I'd glibly answer "We met in a hotel lobby!"

After she made her pitch and I said I'd love to sign up for the course but I just couldn't afford it just then, I invited her to join me in the lounge for a martini.

Which led to more than one, we talked for hours, I learned that she actually lived in a suburb of Indianapolis and the rest is history, as that corny expression states.

After we married I was talking about her with my boss at the time and he said he married his wife three months after he met her.

I calculated and said "Ha! I beat you! Our courtship was only 89 days!"

Writing these memories brings tears to my eyes once again.

So I'll stop here and show you what I believe was the last picture ever taken of Judy and I, a few days after Christmas of 2025.

She, typically, looks great; me . . kind of old and shaggy.

Not too bad for nearly 55 years together.

To those who've inquired, I'm doing okay but I miss her a lot.

JUDY

It is with deepest sorrow that I tell you of the death of my beloved Judy today.

I was unable to waken her this morning and she never regained consciousness before she left us this afternoon in the hospital.

As she requested, there will be no services.

Just remember her, as I shall, in these photographs.

Judith Gayle Statzer Taylor

May 12, 1936 - January 4, 2026

SWINGIN' ON A SATURDAY

I should be swingin' after my surprise commendation from the lovely and talented (and rich) Taylor Swift recently.

She was the surprise presenter of commendations at the annual Laughing Horse Blog Awards gathering on an island that shall not be named in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

And lo and behold, after the overall winner was named, Ms. Janice Cooke for her blog "Jabblog", there were four other commendations.

Ms. Swift swiftly announced MY name as one of the four bloggers present.

The official parchment reads:

FOR GOOD HUMOUR & BRIGHTNESS

Bruce Taylor for "Oddball Observations"

His "Friday Funnies" posts are now legendary - reminding

us all that it is good to chuckle and lighten up sometimes. He

also reveals his passion for baking and his wife Judy - sometimes

referred to as SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed).

Well, I must say I was stunned, not so much by the misspelling of "humor", as by receiving this recognition from the highly vaunted Laughing Horse Awards Committee.

In my acceptance speech I advised my fellow attendees to "keep laughing", then joined the conga line for a quick turn around the dance floor before a fruitless search for my exclusive helicopter flight off the island.

(Taylor, I mean Ms. Swift, dropped me off via her personal jet, laughing between gulps of champagne at the fact that we share a name.)

Here's today's photograph of the still somewhat stunned awardee, thinking back over the experience.

(You'll notice his trimmed beard and neat appearance for the Main Event.)

(Special thanks to Neil of Yorkshire Pudding for putting this all together.)

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

So finally the holidays are over.

I hope you all survived the gifting, the sweets, the overeating, possibly over-drinking, the late nights and later mornings and all the rest of it.

To those of you who still have hangovers, shame on you.

To those of you with Christmas decor still inhabiting every spare space in your homes, it is permissable to now pack it all away.

Of course there is Twelfth Night, which gives you a few more days.

Whatever your traditions I hope you had a good time with them.

Now you can resume your regular lives.

Or . . .

So we come to a close of the first Friday Funnies of the year.

Now I know it's been a difficult time, this holiday season, but toughen up and try to have a remarkable weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . . 

( . . . oh, yeah . . . )

THINKING BACK . . .

 

KITTY NEW YEAR

 

--- Cheerfully submitted by Comical Carol

HAPPY (?) NEW YEAR

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE EVE

 Yes, tomorrow night is the big event: New Year's Eve!

There will be parties and champagne and fireworks (bring your pets inside) and general hooting and cheering throughout the bounds of the earth.

But yet . . .

                yet . . .

                            yet.

Some of us will be missing the whole event.

Some of us have seen too many New Year's Eve celebrations and next-day hangovers and same-old-same-old to get excited about it anymore.

I suspect the couple in this house will have the lights out around 8 p.m.

So to the rest of you, celebrate to your heart's content and may we wish you a Happy New Year.

We have other plans.

CHRISTMAS IS OVER

Judy packed away all of our Christmas decorations yesterday, with my approval.

Normally she waits until New Year's Day but she put them out earlier than usual this year and the end of the year just seemed to call for a fresh start sooner.

I'm often reminded of Queen Elizabeth's remark in her speech to Parliament in 1992, referring to the year past as "an annus horribilis".

One of her children had divorced that year, two others had separated from their wives, and a fire gutted Windsor Castle.

A horrible year 2025 was too but I won't dwell on it.

So now we move on.

Fortunately, our largest tree is only about 18 inches tall so it fits neatly into our picnic basket.

Maybe 2026 will be the year that we once again have a picnic.