The West Enders in July: the Grand Finale

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!

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The West Enders in July, Part 7

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

Lenora goes first.

Lauralyn is next.

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

Carmelita looks lovely, as always.

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.

Did Vera hear that?

Anna May is next up.

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

Next Ilana struts her stuff.

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

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.

A view of the room.

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.

Of course, Lenora had to show off.

She’s back in her original outfit.

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.

Oh, that’s better!

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

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.

Hanging out in the room.

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.

We loved the look of the clouds.

The ring necked parakeets were squeaking away and two flew right over our heads.

It was a bit breezy and the girls were afraid they couldn’t all hang on so Elena waited to make sure it was safe.

Eventually she joined in.

“Now what?”

“Pose, silly!”

“Like this.”

Carmelita looks great in Elena’s outfit.

Lenora’s turn!

Carmelita’s original outfit looks great on her.

With that, we’ll end our photo shoot with some close ups and fingers crossed we’ll all be home soon.

Elena

Carmelita

Lenora

The West Enders in July, Part 4

The final visitor to the hospice who hasn’t been able to explore the garden is Ilana. Once again, Maxi-Me is a bit constrained in how far she can get as her portable oxygen isn’t filled up. It’s really hot today so we waited until evening to go outside.

Ilana models the outfit she came in. Then she and Mini-Me decide to swap.

The girls have a whole new look.

Ilana is Nicole’s niece and Ben’s sister.

Nicole

Ben

“You look amazing in that dress, Mini. I think it’s you. I understand there’s a lot of clothes left in the village by previous residents, including cocktail dresses. Maybe you should keep that and I’ll pick something else.”

“Ilana, you are too kind! When we get back, we’ll get you a whole wardrobe sorted.”

Ilana likes this tie-dye dress but is dreaming of a whole new wardrobe. Besides, Mini-Me hasn’t suggested she keep it either!

In any event, a new friendship has formed.

The West Enders in February

Although it will seem as if very little has happened in West End Village, big changes have been afoot. I have reduced my doll collection considerably and am now in the process of reducing my collection of clothing. My illness seems to have reached a plateau after a precipitous deterioration and recently two Occupational Therapists came over to see what accommodations could be made to help with my breathlessness. I’ve had to eliminate the school because it blocked access to some of the space using my rollator walker. So at the moment, West End Village is in chaos and I continue to make the space user friendly for someone with a walker. But of course, the West Enders continue to enjoy life as you can see from the photos.

The bar at the renamed West End Manor Resort remains a favourite with the models and actors of the community. As Valentine’s Day approaches, the ladies are dazzling. Hagrid is looking pretty spiffy too as he chats up Tina.

Before heading to the Manor as it’s now known among the Villagers, Shakira has a photoshoot to promote her latest album and tour. She’s not sure which photo she likes yet.

West Enders Update

Dear Friends and Followers,

The West Enders have been very quiet since June, and for this I apologise. I have had an endless series of challenges due to my illness and the various drugs I take – immunosuppressants, anticonvulsants, and many more. My illness, chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis, a form of pulmonary fibrosis, continues to progress and I realise that I cannot continue to post the West Enders in quite the same way. I no longer have enough energy to put up and take down sets and backgrounds, so I have been working on creating some permanent spaces in which the story can take place. This is an ongoing process. I also decided to downgrade my collection and am giving my granddaughter several boxes of dolls, clothes, furniture and accessories to sell on eBay. Of course, getting rid of dolls doesn’t seem to stop me from buying more! So when the West Enders return, I will post a new page of characters to help you see who is new and who remains. In the meantime, I thought I would update you on some of the West Enders’ activities.

And yes, there will be a final episode to Season Five in which we will find out the fate of Bigly! (Knock on wood – never tempt fate!)

First of all, today is Día de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, All Saints Day, Samhain, one of the turning points of the year in the Celtic calendar. So how did the West Enders celebrate?

Many familiar characters went out to the annual Halloween Party. Here are Lara and Lottie:

Here are Midge and Rachel – yes, Rachel, who used to be a baby! I have decided to “grow” some of the babies up.

Other children who have “grown up” are Emma’s daughters Lola (now on the right) and Vivianne (now on the left). But in the following image, we can see the former Kalani Holmes is now almost an adult.

Claire and Honey haven’t changed.

There’s a new Dr Bonnie Panenka:

Esmée is going to experience some traumatic changes but for now, she seems happy enough.

A new “teen Ruruko” has joined the West Enders.

Celebrating Día de los Muertos, Frida Dahlo and her nephew join Sindy Petersen.

I’ve been working on new permanent spaces, and Frida will soon have a new dedicated space for her restaurant. In the meantime, Tommy and Salynda have welcomed Salynda’s sister Lucy to their home.

I also created a student common room for the Bernstein College of Music and Art. (That’s a student lounge in American English.)

Some of the students have been checking out the new Italian restaurant.

As you may have noticed, collecting OOAK dolls is one of my passions and I have added some really lovely dolls to the West Enders. First up is the new version of Georgiana Daley, a OOAK from ImDolls on Etsy.

She’s already met another of the new dolls, although he’s not OOAK. I think they make a cute couple, but I’m not sure it’s going to last. He’s called Raheem Rashford, after two of our popular England footballers (soccer players to Americans).

Next is this gorgeous rerooted OOAK Wonder Woman from OneSixthShop on Etsy, now known as Carrie Danes because she reminds me of Claire Danes’ character in “Homeland.”

Blessing Olatunji has a new look, from soniavivajapan on Etsy:

These two young ladies, a new version of Marguerite Charpentier and a new character, Millie Brewer, are from Amelieshappyplace on Etsy.

Another newcomer is this BMR1959 repaint from UzhikiSisters on Etsy.

The doll artist whose work I have collected most is Constantinos Kalaitzis, creator of TheFoxyDolls on Etsy. I had to add this rerooted Barbie Extra doll to my collection:

I also fell in love with this repainted Extra doll from DaydreamArtDolls on Etsy. She’s so cute! Who could resist? Here she is redressed.

I do like the Extra fashions; I bought one of the dolls just for her outfit (she was on sale because her box was damaged). I think her outfit looks fabulous on my OOAK doll from SalemCityDolls on Etsy:

Another new passion of mine is Mizi dolls. I now have four of them, three of them purchased very recently. Here is the stunning Les Mille et une Nuits Mizi doll:

Here she is in “street clothes” with her gorgeous sister from the 2021 Convention collection:

Another fun convention doll, “Spice Girl” Lily, who I have renamed Lela Majak:

There’s more to come – slowly, I realise, but please don’t give up on the West Enders yet! My final photo is the new doll to represent Celeste Santos – so gorgeous in this outfit from elenpriv on Etsy!

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