Thanks guys, for the info and lists of
carbon stars ... all very interesting, and will get out to check when these clouds clear ... prob another 6 weeks!!! 
Ummm ... the B-V (am not familiar with this) is a reference related to the colour, and the lower the number, the stronger the red ... is this right??
Ok, after a bit of reading I see that the star is observed through special B and V filters, and subtracting the 2 values gives you the colour index. Blue stars have a negative index, whereas red stars have an index from 0-3.
Looking at a chart - R leporis 2.7/U Hya 2.7/CE tauri 2.08/Betelgeuse 1.85/Antares 1.83