The West Enders in December: A fond farewell

Dear Friends and Followers,

No words can describe how much fun this has been. I thank every one of you from the bottom of my heart for following along and your kind and supportive comments.

My lung disease has entered its end stage and I have decided not to renew this blog in January. I know I can always continue with one of the free blogs with advertising but the reality is that I am dying. I am at peace with that, receiving excellent care here at home.

Of course, I can’t leave you without pictures. I haven’t been up to the doll room in some time. My wonderful husband brought down my new portable, foldable roombox from Tiny Frock Shop and my eleven Momoko dolls. They have been trying on ball gowns and party clothes.

I apologise for the font changes. Another reason to leave WordPress. I simply can’t get my oxygen starved brain to navigate it anymore.

Akiko looks stunning in her sparkling pink gown but decides to go to the club on NYE instead of the ball.

Akiko spent so many New Year’s Eves looking after Tommy and Salyndas’ baby that she’s a bit nervous going out. (It’s amazing how babies rarely grow in the Dollyverse.)

The girls do look gorgeous in their gowns but Chiyo doesn’t like this look at all and leaves to put on a flapper girl inspired outfit for the new year instead.

Chiyo as flapper.

Scarlett, late for the group photo, looks ethereal in Chiyo’s gown.

As does Yuki in her gown.

In the end, she also opts for the club with her friends.

Scarlett does too.

Darcie is charming in her gown but…

She feels much more herself with her dress and trademark cowboy boots.

This photo really doesn’t do Momoko justice in this cute little gown.

This outfit from SouoL by LouoS looks even cuter.

Moriko’s red gown seems designed for a different era.

But she’s clearly a very modern young woman!

Mizuki skips the whole ball gown experience and gets ready for the club.

Niko is ready as well.

Himari and Heidi are ready to go but Heidi is only 17 and needs a fake ID to get in. Himari reassures her that Chiyo can make her one quickly and easily. She sends a text and waits.

Chiyo tells Mizuki and Niko that she’ll meet them inside and heads off to help Heidi.

New ID in hand, the girls set off to meet their friends.

With that, I’ll say a fond farewell to you and the West Enders. I hope your holiday season is wonderful. Should you be on Facebook, I have a dolls’ only page called Dr Bonnie Panenka and will keep posting there as long as I am able.https://www.facebook.com/DirksDolls

Just to let you know, something as simple as answering comments and messages can be very arduous these days. So if I don’t write a response, please forgive me.

The West Enders in November, Part 2

November 12, 2022 wendydirks Fashion Doll Collecting Barbie, Barbie Curvy, OOAK Dolls

Hello, West Enders! Mini-Me here again with more fashions as we prepare for New Year’s Eve. (Although at the rate we’re going, it may end up being a Valentine’s Day ball instead.)

After seeing me in my beautiful ball gown, my friend Ilana wanted to try them on as well. We ended up swapping around with some of the other curvy girls, trying everything on until we had just the right outfit.

Here’s Ilana. You may recall we became good friends when we stayed at Marie Curie Hospice with Maxi-Me.

Kendra decided to join us.

Kendra’s friend and fellow singer Tina wanted to join us then.

Finally, Kendra’s cousin Blessing wanted to try on dresses too although she’s not curvy like us.

Without further ado, let me show you our gowns. We think we made good choices. Let’s start with Ilana. She tried on several gowns before she decided this purple sparkly one was perfect with her eye shadow.

Kendra loved the blue dress I had on last time. I think it looks better on her.

I chose this gown instead as I think it is a better match for my dark glasses frames. When you don’t wear makeup because you’re more likely to poke yourself in the eye with a mascara wand than actually find your eyelashes, your glasses frames become an essential facial feature.

Tina chose a sparkly dress decorated with irregularly cut bits of colour. Very modern, a little quirky, just like Tina.

Blessing threatened to put us all to shame in her absolutely gorgeous black and gold dress.

We decided to have a group photo and Frida wanted to join us as we are now the first six to be wearing ball gowns. Here we go!

The West Enders in November

November 7, 2022November 7, 2022 wendydirks Fashion Doll Collecting Barbie, Dioramas, Fashion Dolls, New Year's Eve, Sindy

Hello, West End followers! Mini-Me here. Why am I wearing this gorgeous dress, you might ask. Our Maxi-Me was planning a Halloween post but sadly after five days at home following her last hospice stay, she had a terrible exacerbation and ended up in hospital again for the next 2.5 weeks. She has very little memory of the first 10 days but once again was at risk of death and brought back from the brink by the Interstitial Lung Disease team. Whew!

Maxi-Me is very debilitated now and her bedroom at home has been transformed into a hospital room with hospital bed, adjustable height table, commode, and tall backed chair with special anti-pressure sore cushion. Mr Maxi-Me has transformed the rest of the house to be wheelchair accessible. And she’s still getting upstairs to the doll room via stair lift.

She decided to start changing us all into clothes for New Years Eve in hopes of just once having us dressed for the same event. Wish us luck!

Frida doesn’t want to miss out on doing business in her new restaurant but is planning on joining the New Years Eve ball after closing early. She and I are wearing our ball gowns.

Marigold is heading for the Castle Club.

Sindy is also heading to the club.

Kalani is club-bound as well. In fact, most of the younger West Enders prefer the club to the ball.

Rhiannon

Rosalie

Susie

The Saunders sisters are all ready for a night at the club.

Check back later as the West Enders show off their most gorgeous fashions in the lead up to 2023!

The West Enders in September Part 2: Marigold among the Marigolds

September 21, 2022September 21, 2022 wendydirks Fashion Doll Collecting Fashion Dolls, Sindy

Last evening Marigold ventured out into the garden for the first time.

She loved it! Finally in her element, she checked out the flowers close to her room.

Marigold decided she had to get out today and do a bit of watering as the soil seemed quite dry.

But best of all, at the far end of the garden, there they were – marigolds!

The West Enders in September Part 1

September 16, 2022September 16, 2022 wendydirks Fashion Doll Collecting Barbie, Fashion Dolls, Sindy

I had so hoped to be posting a new story with posts for upcoming holidays – Rosh Hashanah, Nigerian Independence Day, Halloween, and Dia de los Muertos, but once again, I’m posting on my phone from the hospice. I’m really disappointed about Nigerian Independence Day because I wanted it to be an African Diaspora Day with dolls dressed in some of the beautiful African inspired clothes I have. Not to be. I hope I can still manage Halloween but we’ll have to wait and see.

As you can see, I have access to the lovely garden although it was too chilly today to get out there. I was shattered because I’ve arrived here after a gruelling week in hospital in which I had a crazed woman in the bed across from me shouting all day and night. She even rang the police one night to tell them she was being kept against her will.

But now I’m here and with me is my new Sindy doll, the Flower Magic Doll.

Eventually I’ll get her out in the garden with her watering can and post more interesting photos. I’m leaving her other accessories in the box until I get home. If you’re interested in seeing her flower shop, check out Vanda’s (Taswegian1957) post: https://dollsdollsdolls.net/2022/09/14/kid-kreations-flower-magic-sindy/

The reason I’ve been readmitted is that covid finally caught up with me, despite taking more precautions than anyone else I know. Fortunately I was given monoclonal antibody treatment due to my immunosuppression for my underlying illness and did not become terribly ill or require hospitalisation while I had it. Unfortunately, it precipitated another exacerbation of my lung disease and for the fourth time this year, off to hospital I went via ambulance after recovering and testing negative. My overall condition has taken another downhill step but I’m still alive.

The good news is that while I had covid, I was able to sit at the dining room table and work on a room box kit, creating a new Frida Dahlo’s Mexican Restaurant. Here are a few photos of the process.

The kit “before.” I was checking if the restaurant would fit.

Painting with steroid induced shaking hands and covid induced fatigue. The yellow walls required 5 layers of paint.

This final picture is the whole setup in the doll room. The little beach house is next door and everything is designed to try and create the illusion that the restaurant is on the beach.

I hope to post more garden photos soon!

The West Enders in August

August 8, 2022 wendydirks Fashion Doll Collecting Barbie, Barbie Made to Move, Fashion Dolls, OOAK Dolls, Photo story, Sindy, Steffi Love, Summertime

West End Village, aka the doll room, is tidy and organised enough for me to start working on the Mexican Restaurant. Once that’s finished, I hope to be able to embark on Season 6 with more stories. For now, I thought I’d post a few updates.

An ongoing concern has been the poor wait staff at the café and pizzeria who never seem to get a day off and wear some of their nice outfits. So I’ve recruited two new baristas for the café and will start rotating dolls through their shifts. Adela and Kalani have new jobs at the café.

Adela has started already and Heidi can’t wait for Kalani to come and relieve her.

Tamra and Marguerite enjoy cappuccino and carrot cake.

The Panenka family relaxes around the pool. Dûsko mans the grill.

Bonnie, Claire, and Steffi relax with the babies in the pool.

Ollie and Katie relax with drinks and fresh strawberries. The perfect way to enjoy the hot days of August. The West Enders hope to return soon with a new season!

The West Enders in July: the Grand Finale

July 30, 2022 wendydirks Fashion Doll Collecting 007, Barbie, Fashion Dolls, Made to Move, Mizi Dolls, OOAK Dolls, Photo story

Hello, dear friends and followers! It’s Mini-Me here again. We’re all at home now and I thought you might like to know what we’ve all been up to since we’ve been back. I’m back at work, nothing too exciting here.

Ilana’s had her hair done but hasn’t chosen a new wardrobe just yet.

Elena is glad to be home with the rest of the Panenka family. Candi tells her all about buying the café and asks Elena if she would like to work there as Candi is really short of help.

On Saturday night, Carmelita persuades Lauralyn to go to the pub, the King George III. The pub is busy and it’s nice to be back in West End Village.

Lauralyn gets chatted up by Diondre almost as soon as she arrives.

The pub is full of single men, as usual, and Barry seizes the opportunity to try his charms on Carmelita.

Across town at the posh bar at the West End Manor Resort, Lenora and Vera drink tropical drinks and chat with some of their new neighbours.

Anna May is reunited with her sisters, Ebony, Lela, and Naomi. They seem pretty intent on something – or someone.

Tobias Alford walks in the door. You may recall that he and Dalpinder went to GlastDollBury22 with Naomi and Ebony. They haven’t heard from him since.

Undeterred, Ebony introduces him to Lela and Anna May.

Lela and Anna May say hello then retreat while Ebony drags a reluctant Naomi over to chat with Tobias.

Anna May: “Well, he’s a tall, dark, and handsome hottie. I wonder how serious he is about our little sisters.”

Lela: “Ebony said they slept in separate tents and that it was friendly but not romantic.”

In the meantime, have you noticed what’s going on here in the corner? James and Mel are looking mighty cozy together. What’s that all about?

Ebony chats blithely away to Tobias, who looks like he wants to escape, while Naomi’s attention is focussed elsewhere. Who is she looking at?

It’s Raheem. He seems to have noticed her as well.

That’s it for the West Enders for now. Maxi-Me has been working day by day to get West End Village up and running but it’s coming along slowly. She hopes that her health will remain stable enough now to start posting Season Six! Clearly there are some stories to be told. We aren’t certain of the format yet. It’s easier and less time consuming to leave out the speech bubbles so the format you see tonight may be what we adopt. As always, the photos will be the focus rather than the text.

Please feel free to comment below!

The West Enders in July, Part 7

July 17, 2022July 17, 2022 wendydirks Fashion Doll Collecting Barbie, Fashion Dolls, Made to Move, Mizi Dolls, OOAK Dolls

On our final day in hospice, the girls have decided to model their own clothes against a black background.

Elena is happy to have her clothes and accessories returned and can’t wait to join the rest of the Panenka family.

Although it’s a warm day, Vera decides to wear her complete outfit.

Mini-Me and Ilana watch from the other side of the room. “She looks like she’s channeling her inner Morticia Addams,” Ilana whispers.

She and Vera decide to pose together to emphasise the black and white outfits.

Last but not least is Mini-Me. She can’t wait to get home tomorrow even though she’s enjoyed the hospice stay and Maxi-Me is feeling so much better.

The West Enders in July, Part 6

July 16, 2022July 16, 2022 wendydirks Fashion Doll Collecting Barbie, Fashion Dolls, Made to Move, Mizi Dolls, OOAK Dolls

The hospice crew are all happy to hear that they’re going home on Monday. They’ve enjoyed the garden and on Friday, Maxi-Me was moved to a fabulous room to get her away from the smokers. Here at the hospice, patients are allowed to smoke outside their rooms so that end of life care is still about enjoying life. Unfortunately, secondhand smoke causes Maxi-Me to become quite ill very rapidly. So we all moved further away.

There are lots of places to do photo shoots in the room so today we chose a white backdrop. Some of us are still wearing someone else’s clothes.

A new West Ender named Vera arrived wearing a long black gown that was completely unsuitable for July, so she swapped for something else.

Vera had a black romper under her gown and Elena tried that on.

There was a prop for the girls to play with too.

Lauralyn’s outfit is part of her identity and culture so she never swapped with anyone.

After a few days wearing heels, Mini-Me’s feet hurt so much that she’s decided to return Ilana’s dress and wear her own with her flat shoes.

Ilana has taken her hair down and looks very glamorous in her dress.

Carmelita looks very stylish in Elena’s outfit.

Anna May is so much taller than the other girls, she hasn’t even tried to swap.

In the end, everyone changes into their original outfits, ready for tomorrow’s final photo shoot.

The West Enders in July, Part 5

July 14, 2022 wendydirks Fashion Doll Collecting Barbie, Fashion Dolls, Made to Move, OOAK Dolls

We are all hoping this will be our last blog post from the hospice. Maxi-Me’s new medication regimen is working well. We have enjoyed our stay and the garden but new adventures (and clothes) await at home. And despite Lauralyn’s hopes, Idris has not made an appearance.

Last night Lenora and Carmelita wanted to do some clothes swapping for a photo shoot so Elena graciously contributed one of her outfits. The garden looked lovely.