A River Runs Through It

Posted on 09-Jul-2012 by Richard Carter

The other day, in the comments, in response to an enquiry about my well-being following the recent Hebden Bridge floods, I replied:

Thanks for your concern, but we live several hundred feet above Hebden Bridge, on the side of a very steep slope. If we ever flood, expect Noah to make a second-coming.

Erm… Is that a very big boat I see on the horizon?

Our house this afternoon:

(The house is fine, but I have never seen so much water on the lawn and in the drive before.)

I hate to think what it must have been like half a mile down the hill in Hebden Bridge.

Update:

BBC: Mytholmroyd and Hebden Bridge hit by flooding
Parts of West Yorkshire have been hit by flash flooding following a sudden downpour that lasted about 90 minutes. The canal at Hebden Bridge breached its banks flooding the town centre, West Yorkshire Police said…

Nearly a month’s worth of rain, more than 40mm, fell in Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd in three hours.

Soaking it in

Posted on 04-Apr-2012 by Richard Carter

I love early Springtime: flowers coming into bloom, bumble-bees buzzing around the garden, the first butterflies of the year, birds getting frolicky, the evenings getting longer. Spring is a great time to be alive.

The week before last, Jen and I went for a long paddle on the Northumberland coast. Last Sunday, I sat on a bench in the garden in my shirt-sleeves, reading the London Review of Books, drinking a mug of tea, and soaking in the sun. How perfect is that?

Our house this morning.

We don’t have climate in Britain; we have bloody weather.

Trendsetter

Posted on 29-Jun-2008 by Richard Carter

Guardian: Top of the pots

Vibrant colours have featured in style magazines for a number of seasons but has this transferred to the nation’s homes? Are (fingers crossed) our living rooms, kitchens and toilets really sporting zesty greens, brilliant reds and jewel-bright blues, or are we (heaven forbid) still living in a blur of beige? In an effort to create a colour picture of the nation’s homes, we asked leading paint companies to reveal their top-selling shades for the past year…

Top sellers

Farrow & Ball Current bestselling greys are (in no particular order) Down Pipe, Shaded White, Parma Gray, Elephant’s Breath, Light Gray, Pavilion Gray and Charleston Gray. Bold colours are also gaining ground, including Incarnadine (rich crimson red), Drawing Room Blue, Pelt (deep aubergine) and Churlish Green (yellow/green).

Incarnadine, eh? Remember, you heard it here first.

Incarnadine

Posted on 10-May-2008 by Richard Carter

The more observant of you—the more observant of you who are not reading this via an RSS reader at least—might have noticed that the banner across the top of the page has changed from a tasteful orange colour to a rather dramatic red. At the same time, the text has changed from black to white.

Why have I made this change? Well, exactly the same red and white colour scheme will soon be adorning my new study. The shelves, windows, skirting board and ceiling will be white, and the walls red. This exact red, in fact. For some reason, the paint manufacturer has chosen to call it incarnadine. It’s a disappointing name, compared with those of some of the other reds I was tempted by: blazer, dragon’s blood, volcanic splash, and something I can’t remember with the word passion in the title. Even rectory red has more of a ring to it than incardanine. Didn’t he star in Kung Fu in the 1970s?

Unfortunately, incarnadine turns out to be a rather specialist (for which, read expensive) paint, so the shop didn’t have enough. They’ve had to order some more.

The new study, once it has a desk and computer will become the official new Gruts Central. So I thought I might as well change the colour scheme at the top of the page to be a bit more corporate.

I don’t know how long it will last.