The personal site of freelance writers and photographers Patricia & Steve Mansfield-Devine. For details of our professional writing and photography, see our WebVivant site.

 

A Passion for Kimono

Black omeshi with red and white oblique stripes

This everyday kimono probably dates from the 1950s or 1960s

Han-eri

Han-eri are temporary collars that you sew to your juban (underkimono) to produce a pretty neckline.

Blue cotton hitoe with stylised flowers

When is a cotton hitoe not a yukata?

Black meisen with fuchsia crosses

This wonderful kimono is from the Taisho or early Showa period

White houmongi with gold embroidery and yuzen

I just fell for this rinzu houmongi, which ticks many of the boxes I want in my formal kimono

Grey omeshi townwear with urushi leaves

This was the first kimono I bought knowing it was omeshi, kicking off a long love affair with this fabric

How to price a kimono

Only you can decide what to pay for a kimono, but here's the rough guide I use

Mustard houmongi with bamboo Yuzen

When in doubt, in terms of formality, choose a houmongi

Black meisen hitoe with green yabane

This black kimono is my first meisen hitoe

Pink meisen with cross hatching

This meisen kimono has the most beautiful handle and lustre

Wabi-Sabi Garden

Wabi sabi garden

Coming soon...

A blog about low-cost, environmentally friendly, minimum maintenance gardening.

 

Living in France cover

Living in France

A practical guide to your new life in France

by Patricia Mansfield-Devine

Published by Harriman House, March 2008

A hands-on, practical guide for Britons who have bought a house in France, either for holiday use or as a permanent home. Written by a long-time French resident, it takes a nitty-gritty approach to what it is really like for a British ex-pat to live and work in France, looking squarely at both the pleasures and the difficulties.

» Find out more » 

Latest in the blog

Cherry blossom confetti

It's sad to see the blossom fall, but it's a beautiful effect

Great food for (almost) no money

Trish's new book tells you how to create delicious and nutritious meals on the most meagre budget

Tracks in the snow

This weather at least provides us with a clue as to what the local wildlife is up to

Merry Xmas

Wishing you a happy holiday season from all at Montcocher

Mini's new sleeping place

Our smallest cat has found a new place to snooze

Lying about one's age

My father did it to get into the Army and fight in World War Two.

Liselotte Amelie Mansfield 1929-2009

There is so much we take with us when we go.

The client relationship

What would happen if those devious clients tried their tricks in the real world.

Rabbit for breakfast

Minerva couldn't eat the whole rabbit, so she left us the legs

A new view of the classics

This has to be the most unlikely looking Jane Eyre ever conceived. What was the BBC thinking?

 

Our other blogs

SecondCherry - the over-40s babe

Fashion, health, beauty, lifestyle and life for the over-40s woman.

SecondCherry
Debt claims another British family
Cherry ripe
Bobbi Brown makeup lessons
Mary, Queen of crisis
Death of a sculptor
Summer yukata
Many cries for water
Why sew?
Skorting the issue
Lose pounds with the right fabric
Summer roses
Summer linen
Goodbye Guy
Make up for glasses
Gainers - no gain, it's a pain

FreeShift

The art of downshifting — finding freedom with the simple life

FreeShift
Art on the cheap
Too much comfort?
Don’t shop, swap
Having fun for free
Respecting the vernacular
How much are you worth?
Cleaning and the meaning of life
Free protection for saplings
A huff and a puff
One step at a time

WebVivant

Writing, editing & photography.

WebVivant RSS Feed
I'm a photographer not a terrorist - flashmob at New Scotland Yard
Publishing on Apple's iBookstore - well, that was easy...
Dangers of cheap stock photos - political parties should be careful about the images they use
In memory of Guy Kewney
Guy Kewney - self-made legend - a great journalist, a good friend and one of a kind
Victory for photographers against orphan works law ... but now the real battle begins.
Using photographs online - the smart and stupid ways
Eating well, spending less - new book shows how you can create great food with very little money
Fixing Adobe InDesign CS3's ePub files (part 3) - the toc.ncx file and CSS
Fixing Adobe InDesign CS3's ePub files (part 2) - editing the content.opf file
Fixing Adobe InDesign CS3's ePub files (part 1) - how to correct problems with the e-book format
Joining forces - a new group for authors in France's Grand Ouest region
Zipping ePub files - the right way to create ePub zip files
More e-book trouble for Amazon - Two more publishers are dictating higher e-book prices
Let the tablet wars commence

FreeInfidel FreeInfidel

Atheism, civil liberties, privacy and other freedoms

FreeInfidel
Loving Allah, and Facebook Security. Why is that funny?
Which is scarier – God or a duck?
What’s in a name?
Pope John Paul II: saintly or unbalanced?
Separation of faith and job
Creationists: stick your fingers in your ears and sing ting-a-ling-a-loo
Bertrand Russell talking sense
When prejudice becomes law
Helping Haiti: it’s about humanity
I’d rather be human than spiritual
Religious murder
Did Jesus beget himself?
An atheist theology?
Lies believers tell: religion is the source of beauty
Dishonest debate