Carmel apple pie & no claws

The Bride of Satan after de-clawing

On Friday the Gimlets took me up to Lynden (about 90 miles north of here) to pick up my cat. I have had this cat for about 5 years now. She is beautiful with long silky black fur and gold & green eyes. I have become quite fond of her but she is a handful. Her nickname is The Bride of Satan (TBS).

TBS was a feral kitten when we got her and I had hoped with kind treatment and lots of gentle handling she would become a nice, tame cat. But no. She can be sweet (although my family disputes that assertion). She is poly-dactyl and has 13 toes on her front feet. She does not like anybody to touch her feet, period. This has been a problem because at least three of her claws could not be retracted, hence they would grow into the pad of her foot and cause her pain and make her even more cranky than normal.

My regular vet here has put a big black dot on her file and will not see her unless she is sedated. They approach cautiously with gloves up to their elbows and it takes two people to hold her down for an examination or claw clipping. It is very traumatic for everyone. Bopa's oldest son, S, is married to a veternarian, D, and they stop by the house every couple of months with a net and a big blanket/quilt to trap her and clip her claws for me so I don't have to take her into a clinic. I was told not to try and do the claw clipping myself since she can be ferocious and dangerous. The last couple of times TBS heard them coming and figured out how to get away from them. Even when I locked her in the bathroom she got the laundry chute open and went down in there to get away from D. Finally D reluctantly suggested that TBS needed to be de-clawed. Just the front feet. Vets do not generally like to de-claw but she is an indoor only cat and a special case. The end result was S & D took her up to KVH on Monday last and removed her front claws. She spent a miserable week up there and we went to pick her up Friday. I think everybody at KVH were all glad to be rid of her. They laughed when I told them her nickname but they all agreed it fit. The screaming, hissing, growling, howling grows old after awhile but she can be terrifying when she gets like that. Her feet are still a bit tender but she is eating now and not growling so much. When she was out they cleaned her teeth too so she is good to go for a couple more years. We pretty much agreed that TBS shouldn't go into a clinic unless she needs medical treatment. No annual checkups required.

The trip to Lynden was fun, it was a lovely day, and we saw a couple of Bald Eagles and an Eagle nest, visited the Dutch Bakery and came home with a Carmel Apple pie and a sedated cat. We would have bought Apple Carmel muffins too but those were all sold out.

Across the way from S & D's house is a dairy farm. The owner got interested in Watusi cattle a couple of years ago and bought a few plus a Texas Longhorn to add to his herd sort of as pets, I guess, since they are separated from the dairy cows. These cattle walked out to the front of the pasture while we were having lunch and we got to see them but not close enough to take a photo. The horns are unbelievably huge. Next time we go up that way we will have to take a telephoto lens so we can get a picture.

Lynden is a very picturesque small town (population 7500) with a decidedly Dutch influence. The town planning commission has seen fit to make most of the buildings look like old Holland complete with a town Windmill. Besides the Bakery there are several Antique shops and interesting things to walk around and look at.

Lynden bakery shop

The box

What is left of the pie inside the box

The Lynden bakery has been written up in magazines and newspapers as having the best pies in the world. This is a really DEEP dish apple pie the top crust covered with a layer of Carmel. So rich, so sweet, so good.