A Little Off The Top...

...and the sides and the back and the butt and belly and the neck and the face and the legs and even the ears.



Miss Aria



And her hair.

At 28 or 29 years old, Aria's grown an incredible winter coat the last couple of years. And while it does eventually shed out, it doesn't do so fast enough to suit either of us. Out come the clippers.

The first clip of the year takes pretty much all morning. Even running the big clippers, that's a lot of hair. Sweaty, dirty hair. It's a good thing Don and Bill are going to offer blade sharpening in between sheep shearing demos at the festival this spring.



The first order of business after a big haircut?



A big roll.



It's got to feel good to get all that prickly hair off your back.





I could have gotten all those high and tight spots if she'd have lain down like a sheep. She's a good girl, but not that good ;-).



After a big hair cut and a big roll, a big shake is in order. I'm pretty sure if you shake hard enough that one of your legs comes off the ground, that a good one.



Horses make a funny sound as they finish shaking. Hard to describe and I wasn't quick enough with the video camera. It's a happy sound.



And then you get a big snack. Even though when the phone rang, you darted out the barn door into the yard for a pre-big snack, snack.

I love when the trees are just starting to leaf out. So pretty.

And so are you Miss Aria.