Just wondering

I wonder what exactly does delight a shepherd at this time of year? An absence of rain, I suppose, if they are working outside. What about early February temperatures in the teens, with nightime temperatures not a lot lower? That is what is forecast for a week or more. Would they welcome the easy working conditions, or would they worry about too much early grass, unborn lambs getting too big, difficult lambing? Would they look grimly at the breaking buds, birds staking out their territories and pairing off, suck in a breath and despise the unnaturalness of it?

There is plenty of time for 'February fill-dyke', for February to bring the snow - 'make our feet and fingers glow'. The longer term forecast is for a north wind - 'and what will cock-robin do then poor thing?' We have had red skies in the morning too, but without much consequence. Old country sayings aren't always right

Why do police spokespeople always talk about 'a male' and 'a female' when they mean a man and a woman? 

Am I the only person who listens to a traffic report saying there are delays due to the road being blocked by a "shed load of [say] carrots" but who actually hears and imagines "a shed-load of carrots"?