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.

Thanksgiving

Pumpkin & Apple pies

My older son and his family started a tradition called “Pie Week” that precedes Thanksgiving Day. Each day for a week they bake different pies and when they eat these delicious concoctions they go around the table telling each other what they are thankful for – “gratitudes“ I think the 3 year old calls them. By the end of the week when it is Thanksgiving Day they have had many different pies and shared many, many gratitudes.

Thanksgiving 2004

This year has been difficult and sad. It may seem hard to find things to be thankful for but I did find things and I am very thankful.

I am so extremely thankful for the 44 wonderful years I was able to share with my husband. It is true that I miss him and want to talk with him every day. But then I remember all the things we did do and it makes me smile. I am also very grateful that if he had to die that he died so quickly. It would have been unbearably difficult to see him anything less than the way we all love and remember him as being. He may have thought he was losing his marbles but I think he still had a full set.

Watching my mother die by degrees and feeling like I could not comfort or help her in any way has been heartbreaking. But on the positive side this slow death is giving all of us opportunities to sit with her and to be with each other as an extended family. I am so thankful for the hospice nurses and their kind compassion, care and concern for her and for us.

I’m so sorry we had no choice but to move Mom’s things, sell items, and go through things before she passed away. But once again the silver lining was finding the two love letters my Dad had written to her the summer before they were married. So sweet to read them and recognize the love they had for each other.

I am thankful for my children, their spouses, and all those cute, smart and handsome grandchildren. And to think that there will be another new baby in the family next year is something to anticipate with love and delight.

I am thankful for Bee and the Gimlet tackling my plumbing problems. The kitchen sink drains and the water pressure is amazing (and more so when compared with the other sinks in the house). I am thankful they are going to redo the entire house and the parts are sitting in boxes in my living room even now. Ahhh, to take a shower with lots of hot water and not warm mist! I am thankful just to be able to think of it.

I am so thankful to Mrs. Gimlet for going to church with me. Keeping me company, not just once or twice but for months. I am grateful for Q & Lou who check in weekly from across the country and Curly & Bee who bring take-out treats often. The Gimlet has driven us to Olympia to visit my mother so many times while she has been in hospice care. My brother and his wife and daughter have done much more than I can to make Mom’s last days comfortable and easier. I am grateful for all you have done and are doing. I love all of you.



I’m also thankful that my cat nicknamed “The Bride of Satan” is going into the cat carrier to eat, even with the door on the carrier. Hoooray! She is going to be declawed in December and up until now would never willingly go into the carrier since she knows where that takes her (shhhhh, to the vet). I may have to change her nickname to Mrs. Clawsless or something like that. We will all be thankful when her 13 front claws are gone! “Don’t touch my feet,” she says as she clicks and clacks on the wood floors.

I am thankful that there is no water in my basement (yet) even though we have had over 3” of rain in the past couple of days.

These are just a few of the things I am thankful for--it is true my cup runneth over and I am grateful.

Happy Thanksgiving!