Journey with Jimanie

2009-08-03T15:39:00.000-04:00

Wow! It's been awhile since I posted anything here. I just got back from judging in Sequim, Washington. What a great place! It is on the edge of the US border with Canada. I judged for the Hurricane Ridge Kennel Club and never did make it up to the ridge. I guess I'll have to save that for the next time I'm in that neck of the woods. I really enjoyed judging for this club. They had around 800 dogs, but the quality was good, so the judging was pleasurable. Had an entry of 10 Spinone. I got to meet and talk with Spinone breeder/judge Carolyn Fry from the UK, author of "The Italian Spinone" - considered by many to be the "bible" of Spinone literature after I judged the breed on Saturday. I had several questions to ask her about the breed and we had a very enlightening discussion. Delightful lady and very passionate about the breed.

The club members knocked themselves out making sure the show ran smoothly, especially Show Chair Joe Larson. The show announcer was none other than retired AKC Rep, Bill Holbrook - it was wonderful to see him again. The judges were treated to a Saturday night dinner at the home of the superintendent, Sharon Delabarre. She and her husband, Mel, have a beautiful home in a terrific setting. There was nothing like being greeted by the smiling face of her 10 year old Golden Retriver girl when Cindy Vogels and I first arrived. The Chef for the evening was none other than the owner and chef of Bella Italia Restaurant in Port Angeles, WA, http://www.bellaitaliapa.com/ where Bella and Edward of "Twilight" had their first date. Yes, I'm a "Twilight" fan! We even had the mushroom ravioli which is what the characters Bella and Edward had for their meal. The entire trip was great, even the long drive from Seattle, WA in heavy traffic was fun as the only car they had left was a brand new red Mustang. Talk about a return to my teenage years - I had to make an effort to keep my foot off of the gas pedal.

I'm home for a couple of weeks, so I hope to get busy and complete several cross stitch designs for my company, Pegasus Originals, Inc. http://www.pegasusor.com/ I have just completed a new line of patterns for counted cross stitch stockings with different dog breeds on them, plus a new design for the "Journey With Jimanie" series: this one a stone church near Hiawassee, GA. A new design for a red and white Pembroke Welsh Corgi has just been completed, as well.

Back to Judging Dogs!

2009-01-20T22:08:00.000-05:00

Whew! It's been awhile since I've had time to update my blog. I honestly don't know where the time goes - but it sure goes FAST!

I'm finally back in the swing of things with my dog judging schedule. Just returned this afternoon from judging the Rose City Classic shows in Portland, OR. What a class act! The shows are incredibly well run, the site is wonderful and the hotel where theylodge the judges up is terrific. The weather out there was tolerably chilly - especially since SC was having record breaking lows. The first couple of days were foggy when we were taken to the show site, but the last few days were clear and the view of Mt. Hood was spectacular.

Large shows, the Rose City Classic, sponsored by Eukanuba, is comprised of the Dog Fanciers Association of Oregon, POrtland Dog Obedience Club and the Tualatin Kennel Club. The Classic attracts a big entry and quality dogs. I kicked the weekend off by judging the German Shorthaired Pointer Club of Northern Oregon's specialty on Thursday. Had a lovely entry and a great time. Judged the next four days and did a mix of sporting, toy and herding dogs. Saturday was the "Big Day" as I was judging the Herding Group that night for the Dog Fancier's Association of Oregon and it was taped to be televised on Animal Planet. I had my formal outfit all ready to go, but had to switch shoes at the last minute. My ankle started giving me problems the last few months due to arthritis, so I had to wear the flats I'd brought instead of the heels. Funny thing was, the flats no longer seemed to fit my feet. I'd lost weight and they were too big! So, I literally glued my feet into those shoes using double sided sticky tape! I got through the instructions and hope I didn't get between the cameras and the dogs too often. Naturally, the quality of the dogs in the herding group were quite high and I was very pleased to give the top award to the Bouvier. A square, rugged, stallion of a dog who I thought could handle cattle with ease. A beauty of a Belgian Sheepdog was second and the Pembroke and Cardigan Corgis couldn't be denied third and fourth. It is so much fun to judge a ring full of such beautiful dogs as I had that night.

I'm off to St. Louis in a few days to judge the St. Charles (MO) Kennel Club.

Memphis Kennel Club

2008-09-09T12:07:00.000-04:00

I took a quick trip over to Memphis to judge the Memphis Toy Dog Club and Memphis Kennel Club shows in mid-August. They were actually held just across the border in Mississippi in a nice indoor arena. I had a great time as I went out early in order to judge sweepstakes classes at the Toy show - one of the requirements one may fulfill in order to apply to judge a new breed. Since I'm working on learning the Toy breeds, this was a wonderful opportunity for some hands-on learning. It turned out to be an entire weekend of learning as there were some really good seminars on several toy breeds. An impromptu Pekingese seminar was very well done and well received with lots of hands on time on some really lovely Pekes. That is one of the primary things I love about judging - learning more about dogs. It is kind of like getting a PhD in dogs, if you can last long enough to complete the course. As you judge you also get to know some of the other judges better. Sunday night, several judges were housed at a hotel closer to the airport so we could take the hotel shuttle over to catch our flights. Doris Cozart, Roberta Campbell, Anne Catterson and I decided to dine together at the hotel and went in as soon as the restaurant opened at 5 pm. We had such a great time getting to know each other better that we stayed at our table for nearly four hours! That's the wonderful part of the dog fancy - no matter where you are from or what you do for a living, you can ALWAYS "talk dogs".

Memphis was more like what it is to be a dog show judge - fly in, judge dogs, fly home. I really do enjoy it when Jim can come with me and we can make an adventure out of it by meandering through the countryside. Truly, though, being able to get to put your hands on the dogs is the goal of those of us who have chosen to follow the path of those who judge dog shows. It can be glamorous at times, but it is mostly fly in, judge, fly home. You judge all day, catch an early dinner and get to bed early so you can do it all over again the next day. It really is fun, but is physically and mentally exhausting. I sure had no idea what it would be when I was an exhibitor. When we are showing dogs, we can have periods of relaxation between showing the dogs, but when you're in the middle of the ring, the fun goes on all day. Even if it is raining (or sleeting or snowing, well, you get the picture!)

After Memphis, I was honored to fly to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada to judge the Canadian Bouvier National Specialty over the Labor Day weekend. I've judged a few times in Canada, but it was always on the West coast or Calgary. This was my first time in Nova Scotia and I loved it! This was a special anniversary show for the Halifax group and it was quite festive throughout the time I was there. An added bonus was the appearance of the Budweiser Clydesdales - truly magnificent creatures! The judges got to get up close and personal with them when we had a break and went over to see them. I had my hands on the largest of the group and he was 19 hands high at the wither and still growing! (For the non-horsey set, a "hand" measures four inches.) I had a great time judging the Bouviers and enjoyed the banquet after the show tremendously. What a jolly bunch of folks! This was another fly in, judge, fly home. Certainly tiring, but worth it.

I hope to have more next week after our trip to Pennsylvania in the Journey with Jimanie series. I will try to have more photos for that trip - and will take my camera on more judging trips for the blog.

Stephanie

Trip to Pennsylvania

2008-08-24T17:10:00.000-04:00

Finally, I'm getting back to the reason we wanted to start this blog. Our "Journey with Jimanie" trips! Whenever possible, Jim travels along with me on judging assignments so that we can take photographs of anything that catches our eye for possible counted cross stitch designs for our company, Pegasus Originals, Inc. We also take notes of the places where we eat and on the photos we take so we'll know where everything was that we liked.

On our recent trip to State College, Pennsylvania (home of Penn State and the Nittany Lions) we really fell in love with the area. As I said before, we went over to Bellefonte, PA and got some great photos of Victorian homes there. We really enjoyed the time we spent walking up and down the streets of Bellefonte. We got lots of photos for possible cross stitch designs.

We stayed in downtown State College at the Days Inn downtown. It was within walking distance of the college campus and the shops and restaurants. We ate breakfast at the Pannera Bread Company - their egg souffles are great! Saturday night several of the judges got together and ate upstairs at "The Corner" (the corner of College and Allen) at the Allen Street Grill. The food was very good and the atmosphere was quiet enough for pleasant conversation. Jim enjoyed the hiking around the area of State College while I judged the Nita Nee shows on Saturday and Sunday.

Our drive home was quite productive in taking photos. We stopped in Winchester, VA - a gorgeous town where the main street downtown has been made into a pedestrian mall. We wandered all over the area taking photos of the downtown area. There's also a really great brick fire station that caught our attention. We took a lot of photos of the fire station - not sure exactly what I'm going to do with them yet.

We wandered through the Virginia countryside before we were forced back onto Interstate 81 to head home. We even found a covered bridge just south of Mt. Jackson. We love taking photos of covered bridges. I'm not sure how many counted cross stitch designs I can do of them even though the one of Humpback Bridge in the fall has done very well. We stopped in New Market to eat dinner at the Southern Kitchen Restaurant. It was first opened in 1955 and retains much of the atmosphere of that era. We found personal juke boxes at the booths and ate some really good fried chicken and cole slaw. We just had to try the peanut soup - yes, I said PEANUT soup! It really tasted like peanuts and was pretty good, but not as tasty as the fried chicken. My favorite spot of the whole trip was when we stumbled across the Blue Ridge Grocery near Flint Hill.

We are going back to Pennsylvania so that I can judge the Mt. Pocono and Lehigh Valley shows on Jim's birthday (September 12). Jim is going with me (there are mountains nearby!) so he will do some more hiking and we'll wander the countryside again on the way home looking for more photos to add to our ever increasing album.

Continuing Recovery and Judging Dogs

2008-07-31T15:31:00.000-04:00

Haven't published anything in awhile simply because there hasn't been much to say. I continue to recover from my abdonimal surgery. My energy is about back to normal, but my plumbing has been slow to get back to any semblance of normal. Everyone tells me that I'm expecting too much, too soon, but gosh, I sure hope things start working the way that nature intended soon! I had a bit of a melt-down on the drive home from my first weekend out judging dogs and Jim took wonderful care of me, as usual. Things have been doing better since then - at least no more melt-downs, which is very good.

I got out to my first judging assignment since the first surgery in April. Nita Nee Kennel Club in PA. in mid-July. A small club made up of very hard working folks who put on a really wonderful show. Met the show chair, Carol Brown, for the first time and we really hit it off. I enjoyed her company very much. Jim drove me up to State College, PA - he wasn't about to let me out of his sight yet. We absolutely fell in love with State College. It is the home of Penn State - home of the Nittany Lions. We took the first afternoon to drive over to Bellefonte, PA to take photos of some of the absolutely lovely Victorian homes for which the town is well known. I've really been enjoying this part of our travels as we search for new ideas for my counted cross stitch designs for our company, Pegasus Originals, Inc. (Go to http://www.pegasusor.com/ to see my designs.)

Jim had a couple of days of very pleasant hiking and I had a wonderful time doing what I love best - judging dogs. Thankfully, I had a very light load the first day as it was very warm and an outside show. Even though the show wasn't a large one, there were some really lovely dogs there. I put a young English Setter to group one and had several dogs that I didn't place in the ribbons that I was quite taken with. My second place was a lovely Brittany, third was typey and sound Field Spaniel and fourth a really beautiful English Cocker. The next day, I was honored to judge a Brittany Specialty and was quite pleased with my top placing dogs. This is a breed I have been a great fan of for over 35 years. I actually had Brittanys before I had Pembroke Welsh Corgis! I've always had both herding a sporting dogs with a few toy breeds thrown in just for fun. Herding dogs I showed in conformation and obedience and Sporting dogs I showed in conformation and hunted. I got turned on to Brittanys because the dog you use in the field is the same dog you take to the shows. There has been no "split" between the show and field in Brittanys. My very first AKC registered dog was toy Poodle I bought with money I'd worked all summer to accumulate when I was 16. I guess I've just not met a dog I didn't like - even when some of them didn't much like me!

I got to stick around to the very end of the second Nita Nee KC show as I was doing BIS. I had a phenomenal line-up: a Vizsla that was as talented as she was correct for the breed (she did some really cute tricks to entertain those ringside), a really lovely Basenji, a stunning Alaskan Malamute who didn't let the heat get him down, a feminine Kerry Blue who showed her heart out, a Lhasa Apso shown to perfection, a young and very typey Pembroke Welsh Corgi bitch and a beautiful, graceful and feminine Italian Greyhound who eventually went home with the red, white and blue rosette. What was really interesting was that the majority of the dogs in the best in show line-up were females! And gorgeous girls, at that. I remember when it was nearly impossible to do much with a bitch special and I'm certainly glad that bias is now gone.

My first foray out into the world of judging all by myself is coming up this weekend. I'm flying to Memphis KC to judge sweeps at the Toy Group show on Friday and do the two all breed shows on Saturday and Sunday. More to come after those shows. Jim is staying home this time.

Reflections

2008-06-22T09:49:00.000-04:00

Whomever first said, "If you have your health, you have everything." wasn't far off the mark. After my CT Scan on Friday, I felt pretty good but by that night I was one sick puppy. I don't know how much of it was in my head or if I really am allergic to the process. I didn't drink any of the RediCat as I knew that would make me throw up and I told the surgeon the only way I'd have the test is if I didn't have to drink it. Guess the dye they injected is what did me in this time. By Friday evening, I had such acid reflux and gas in my stomach I was really miserable. I finally up chucked my stomach contents and went to bed. Jim called and spoke to the doctor on call and had a long chat with him. He thought we were expecting too much too soon - that the healing process would be longer for me due to the length of time before the reversal of the colostomy (14 years).

If you are healthy, revel in it! But if you are faced with an illness, I sincerely hope you have a belief in God and supportive family and friends. I started this blog because so many of my friends in the dog show world were concerned about my health and this was the easiest way to update them. When I first thought to do a blog, it was going to be about my travels about the country as a dog show judge combined with photography trips with husband, Jim, for my cross stitch designs. We've started a series of designs under the title of Journeys with Jimanie, hence the name of this blog. I still intend to do that, but since I already had it in place I figured I'd use it to keep everyone informed as to my progress.

I have come to realize that if I'm detailed enough, perhaps I can help people facing what I faced and give them some insight in to what they may be in for on their journey to wellness. I searched and searched the internet and found little that was of help to me. I know when I woke up in the hospital after my initial surgery for colorectal cancer, I was more upset about the fact that I had a colostomy than that I had what they thought at the time was terminal cancer. I soon learned to cope with the colostomy and literally traveled the world without a thought to my colostomy, other than to be sure to take my supplies with me in my carry on luggage.

The last few days, I really feel like I've turned a corner. A bit of my energy is returning. My patchwork quilt of an intestinal tract is trying to learn to function cohesively again. I am walking on the treadmill for short periods of time with a goal of ten minutes a day this week. I actually went over today by a couple of minutes as I was on the phone and just kept on going.

Went to my appointment with my surgeon yesterday and he's well pleased with my progress. It has been a long, uncomfortable two months, but I really am excited about feeling a bit better every day.

To all of those who continue to send their well wishes, I want you all to know how much that has helped me in this journey to wellness. Keep those good thoughts and prayers going as that is what I need the most.

Stephanie

The Journey Continues

2008-06-20T15:39:00.000-04:00

Things have certainly been up and down with my recovery. Seems that when you've had a colostomy for over 14 years getting all of your body parts to cooperate again isn't as easy as just stitching everything back together. Sure has been a roller coaster ride. Had to get my daughter, Leah, to take me to hospital to have some tests done. Seems I have a UTI and am back on antibiotics. Naturally, the antibiotics kill off all the normal flora in your intestines, so everything is in an uproar again.

My surgeon got a bit alarmed and sent me in to the hospital again today for a CT Scan. He's concerned that there might be an abscess if the resected areas are not healing properly and are leaking. I really don't think that's it, but we'll know by the first of the week. Thankfully, my daughter has been able to squire me around as Jim is working in the office by himself this week. His brother, Mark, is off on a well deserved annual week at Sunset Beach, NC.

I'm a bit overwhelmed with it all. Of course, none of us (me or the doctors) knew what to expect in the way of recovery time since they have never reversed a colostomy after such a long period of time. Now that the CT Scan is over, I feel a bit better - relieved, mostly. Time for my afternoon nap!

Stephanie

Long and Winding Road

2008-06-11T16:24:00.000-04:00

It has been a week and a half since the reversal of my Ileostomy. Supposed to be a quick, 1 1/2 hour operation - simple, right? Who, me, do simple when I can have more complicated? Ha! Took an hour longer as the adhesions had already begun. My body really, really likes itself and tends to get stuck on anything it can internally. Once he got everything apart, he got to put it all back together again and the journey to wellness began anew again. At least he had to remove some fat that had started to die away on us - not a tummy tuck, but the closest thing I'll ever have to it!

My surgeons wouldn't let me go home until everything was in proper working order, which included my digestive tract and also the other working parts of my body. Don't know how I managed to do it, but I sprained my left knee (medial collateral ligament) whilst getting in and out of bed. My knee hurt on Wednesday and by the next morning, it couldn't bear any weight at all. That set off a round of visits from the orthopedic man, portable x-rays, etc. Still, I got to go home Friday. Heck, I'd have checked myself out if they hadn't finally let me go. I sure didn't want to miss the Belmont as I just knew Big Brown would win it. Bitter disappointment there, for this horse lover.

Got my final stitches out today and am getting around a bit better. Thank God for my husband, Jim! He gets me in and out of chairs (can't push up as neither knee can bear it!) and has jury rigged both bathrooms so I can better manage things. Every day is a bit better than the day before, though I'm worried I may get too used to mid-afternoon naps in the recliner!

We will just have to see how "things" go - I haven't been without a colostomy or ileostomy for 14 years so all of this "wholeness" takes a bit of getting used to. I'm trying to keep myself occupied by working a bit on different things via my laptop. Amazing to me how tired that can make me feel - hence, the frequent naps.

Again, thanks for all your cards and especially for your prayers. It's working!

Stephanie

Good Test Results

2008-05-30T16:54:00.000-04:00

Finally got through my colonoscopy today. The news is good! All is healed correctly and my surgeon will perform surgery on Monday to reconnect the ileostomy. It's been a long day, but I'm thrilled with the results. One more surgery to get through and I'll be on my way back to a normal routine. Thanks for all your prayer, please keep the prayers going through this next surgery and recovery period.

Stephanie

Second Surgery

2008-05-29T19:07:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow I go for a colonoscopy to check to see that all has healed from my surgery on April 24th. If we get a good report from the gastroenterologist, then I'll be admitted to the hospital on Sunday, June 1 and have what I hope will be my final surgery on Monday, June 2. The plan is to close the ileostomy and reconnect the small intestine to the large, making me "whole" again for the first time in 14 years! I dread having surgery again - it sure isn't my idea of fun - but really do look for all of this to be behind me. Thanks again to all of the support I've received. Please keep those prayers going - that the procedure tomorrow will prove that I'm ready for surgery and that the surgery on Monday goes well and everything works as it should.

Stephanie

Surgery and Such

2008-05-19T21:18:00.000-04:00

May 19, 2008

What a way to start a blog. On April 23 I was admitted to the hospital for surgery the following day.

Fourteen years ago, I had colon cancer and my surgeons feared it was terminal. I went through surgery then and they put my small intestines up into a mesh sling in order to irradiate heavily where the cancer had spread. I was left with a colostomy that was permanent. Come to find out, they thought I’d be dead within a year (or a few months!) and they were doing everything they could to save me for a few more months.

With the grace of God and many praying for me, I made a complete, cancer-free recovery after surgery, radiation and a year of chemotherapy. The recovery is still unexplained in medical terms. My surgeon calls me his “miracle”.

Unfortunately, the mesh sling they used had unknowingly started to disintegrate. I was having intestinal obstruction problems due to adhesions more and more frequently, but all my physicians and surgeons declined to do anything about it as more surgery would cause more problems. I learned to manage the worst obstructions with drugs and rest and they always managed to resolve themselves without surgical intervention.

God is so good! He sent a condition they had to address: my intestines had managed to adhere to my bladder through the mesh sling. I went in for what I thought was a UTI but my family physician couldn’t get it resolved, so he sent me to a urologist. He scoped the bladder and biopsied and found no cancer, but suspected the intestines were to blame, so sent me off for a CAT scan. The call from him was good in that there was no cancer, but then the next words out of his mouth were, “Do you have a surgeon?” and I knew I was in for it then! In consult with my surgeon, the decision was made (that I had to have it done) and the date was set. They told us the surgery would last about 4 hours and I could expect a hospital stay of five days. I was truly dreading it because of memories of the many problems after my previous surgery. Surgery day came and my hubby sat in the waiting room for over 5 ½ hours as they found some “unexpected complications”. Boy, am I ever glad I was asleep!

I had gotten so used to the pain caused by the adhesions, I’d learned to ignore the sharp cramps and just work my way through them. Folks, when something HURTS it is a signal from your body that something isn’t right! They were all correct in their diagnosis of the adhesions – there were many of them, (my surgeon used the term "a mass of adhesions") but what they didn’t know is that the mesh sling had disintegrated and perforated multiple places in my small intestines, causing fecal leakage out into the abdominal cavity. Yes, it was adhered to the bladder and they fixed that, but they had a large abscess going on and all of that had to be excised and repaired. The small intestine had to be resected to remove the perforated parts. If it had not been for the bladder problem, my surgeon told me he would not have operated and the leaky intestines would have gotten to the life threatening stage before they realized something else was going on. As I said, God is good!

My surgeon is thrilled with the surgery’s success (they had four surgeons in there helping out!) and he expects me to make a full recovery. One more surgery to reconnect the illeostomy (they reconnected the colostomy – one for the record books after 14 years!) and then if all works properly, I’ll be ‘self-contained’ once again. My second surgery is scheduled for June 2nd.

The recovery is too slow for me, but I’ve learned to do a little and then get back in the recliner for a rest. Even talking can wear me out (can you believe THAT?) This is probably more than anyone cares to know, but I want everyone to take this opportunity to get any nagging aches or pains looked after – don’t ignore signals from your body something is wrong.

A huge thank you to Linda Stoddard and Lois Evans who have cooked incredible meals for Jim and I. I’m truly enjoying my “gourmet meals on wheels” and my private nurse (hubby Jim) has one less thing to worry about – cooking. Linda S. kept most of the dogs for me – Kathie Lee remained at home as she is a gentle soul and would not insist on getting in my lap – and I’m happy to report that they came home today so the silence emanating from the kennel is no longer deafening. I’m sure they are going to miss “Camp Woodwynne” and the daily romps around and in Linda’s pond.

Jim and I have so appreciated the banana bread Mundina O'Driscoll brought by (and the feather hat that she saw me drooling over when several of us had a girl's day out last summer) and Mina Harrington's balloons and bear. Lorna Maynard sent the cutest "Get Well" bear and goodies that I actually got to enjoy - a mini chocolate chip cookie a day! I really thought I wouldn't be able to digest anything for at least a month, but things are really working well.

In the future I hope to tell a bit more about our travels and give a bit of background on the inspirations for most of my cross stitch designs lately. I'll also talk a bit about my judging adventures, as well.

Stephanie

What is a Jimanie and Why Is It Taking a Journey?

2007-11-04T17:23:00.000-05:00

I know this should have gone at the beginning of my blog, but when I hadn't started the blog before my recent health problems, I got caught up in reporting my progress there first. I figured I'd better get on with this introduction before I got too deep into the blog experience. This is I a little background information on myself and my company, Pegasus Originals, Inc. and my experiences in judging dogs and traveling.

I am a native of Charleston, SC and I grew up there, steeped in Southern tradition as a member of one of the first families to settle in the Charleston area . I made the 'big move' a hundred miles inland to the state capitol, Columbia, in 1970 to head up the Respiratory Therapy department in the brand new Lexington County Hospital, now the progressive Lexington Medical Center. It was here I met my husband, Jim Hedgepath, who was a friend of the husband of Anita Booth, the first therapist I hired for the new hospital. Anita befriended me - I think she felt sorry for me as I knew no one in Columbia! I'd moved to Columbia with my German Shepherd, Jalk and had been working hard to get the hospital ready for their first patients. I'd bought Jalk as my first show dog from Mickey Ferri of Achtung Kennels on Wadmalaw Island near Charleston. He was a wonderful dog and the main reason, forty years later, that I am still active in the dog show world as a sometime breeder, but mostly as an AKC approved judge.

When Jim and I married in 1972, I was well and truly 'hooked' on showing dogs, starting with my beloved Jalk (Achtung's Jalk vom Sixtberg, CD). That was back in the days when it was common to have 100 German Shepherds shown at local all-breed shows. As a novice, I did fairly well with Jalk, just about always placing in the classes in which he was shown, but we never did get even one very coveted point toward his championship. He was a great dog and a wonderful freind, but he just couldn't beat the truly wonderful dogs being shown in this area at that time. I was very pleased that he (and I!) held our own against those much more experienced than we were and also against the top professional handlers of the day, as we almost always came away from the tough conformation shows with a ribbon. I wanted to do everything I could with Jalk, so we enrolled in obedience and also took up tracking along with the 'man work' expected in Schutzhund. I wanted to do it all with him and I got much very valuable experience by working him in so many different areas. He was a good teacher and a beloved friend for 14 years and he always tried to do everything I put him up against no matter how hard or how inept his handler happened to be. I enjoyed participating in dog shows and still do, nearly forty years later. In the late 70's I aquired my first Pembroke Welsh Corgi and that is the breed I'm most linked to in the 'dog show world'. Many people have no idea I started in German Shepherds and that I'd also had several other breeds prior to obtaining my first Pembroke. Fairly early on, husband Jim decided that showing dogs was not his 'thing' but it worked out well for me, as he would happily stay home with the children and the dogs (and other critters we managed to accumulate) as I flitted back and forth across the southeast at dog shows nearly every weekend.

Jim has always been an integral part of my great adventure in the dog fancy, even though he didn't care to show, so it was natural to name my kennel "Jimanie" - a combination of his name (and his name is Jim, NOT James!) and the last part of my name. OK, the actual first use of Jimanie was as our cattery name (no snickers, please) as we showed Siamese cats for several years and had chosen that as our cattery name. I liked it so much, I started using it for the dogs, especially after I branched out into breeds other than the German Shepherd. Initially, I used the name Adlerhaus for the shepherds, which is German for the "House of Eagles". I chose that name because a good German Shepherd should have the 'look of eagles' about them.

About 1977, I got involved in designing counted cross stitch. I had been searching for the perfect birthday gift for my good friend, Dyanne, who was the wife of my veterinarian, Jim Ratliff. With a three year old at home and another on the way, there wasn't a lot of money for an elaborate gift, and since Dyanne showed Doberman Pinschers, I decided to stitch one in counted cross stitch for her birthday. When I searched for a pattern, all I could find were either cartoon-looking designs or dogs that displayed such poor breed type, one could hardly decide if they were Dobermans or some other breed. Being an artist who preferred to draw animals more than any other subject, it was natural for me to try my hand at designing a Doberman in counted cross stitch. When the project was completed, I took the final design in to my favorite needlework shop, hoping to find a ready-made frame in which to place it. When the shop owner asked where I got the chart, I simply replied, "I did it." She then asked if she could buy copies of the charts! I asked, "For money?" and she replied in the affirmative. I went home and not only produced that chart, but designed several more dogs and a cat or two and a new design company was born!

Funny how life can change with the simplest of gestures. I wanted to stay home with my children after my second child, Leah, was born. I was still working as a Respiratory Therapist, but I had moved from the hospital to the educational field and was now the clinical coordinator of the Respiratory Therapy program at Midland's Technical College. I enjoyed it, but not as much as I had working with patients. Starting a counted cross stitch company had never been part of the plan, but we quickly saw that it would make it possible for me to stay home and still work. I've never regretted the decision. When circumstances put Jim in the market for a job several years later, we decided that he would come full time with 'my' cross stitch company, by now named Pegasus Originals (due to my fondness for horses).

Now, thirty five years later, the tables have turned somewhat in that Jim no longer stays home to take care of the children while I go to dog shows. I still go to the shows, but in a totally different role as a judge instead of an exhibitor. Jim has become quite the hiker and always looks at the location of shows I've been asked to judge, just in case there is a good area for mountain climbing nearby. Now I'm the one 'working' while he goes off hiking the trails. I figure turn about is fair play, don't you? We've made two cross country trips, from SC to California and back one time and from SC to Colorado and back the second time. Anytime I am asked to judge in Virginia or Pennsylvania, he usually volunteers to drive me there and back. Over our lives together we've always taken a great many photos of places we've been and we realized we could share these photos through my cross stitch and graphic designs and are also working on putting together CDs of the photos themselves so that folks can use in their craft and website designs. Thus, Journeys with Jimanie was so named as it depicts the journeys of "Jim" and Steph"anie" both past, present and future.

That's enough for now. We invite you to view our Journeys with Jimanie counted cross stitch designs and some of the graphic artwork available through our Strictly Animals website, as well.

Stephanie

Stephanie Seabrook Hedgepath