The West Enders in November, Part 2

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!

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The West Enders in August

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

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

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 July, Part 3

Yesterday was a busy day in the hospice so Lenora MacDonald had to wait until evening to have her photo shoot in the garden. As a reminder, since we haven’t seen Lenora in a while, she’s sister to Merida and daughter to Mairi. This new Looks version with her curly hair is perfect in that role!

Merida MacDonald, created by Mari of Salem City Dolls, who also created Elena Panenka.

Mairi MacDonald, created by Con “Fox” of TheFoxyDolls on Etsy.

Lenora MacDonald, with her curly ginger hair in the garden of the hospice.

Lenora liked to pose, as fashion models do, especially in places that emphasised her eye shadow.

Lenora

Lenora is a fabulous model.

I’m not sure she’s going to continue her modelling career; she might play fiddle to Merida’s guitar. Sister act!

Merida’s lost half of her duo when Cho went back to Japan.

Lenora will certainly let us know what she wants to do!

The West Enders in July, Part 2

Today was warm and sunny and Carmelita reminded me that it was her turn to explore the garden. Unfortunately the liquid oxygen I need to go out in the chair was uncooperative so I could only get out as far as my indoor tubing would reach. She’s such a pretty, winsome doll!

The lovely Carmelita in the late day sun.

Enjoying the flowers.

Carmelita loves zumba and she looks great in a cropped top.

Another new doll arrived, yet another Panenka! Her name is Elena and she wanted to go outside too. Carmelita felt it was a little unfair but agreed in the end.

Elena is a OOAK doll from Salem City Dolls, the fifth in my collection.

She’s very lovely.

Carmelita and Elena talk things over.

They pose together.

Elena gets her garden shot.

West Enders in January

Happy 2022 from the West Enders. It’s continuing to be busy behind the scenes as our creator deals with her progressing illness. But we are here and hoping to continue as long as possible. Here we have a new West Ender celebrating the new year and the Japanese Coming of Age Ceremony by wearing a traditional Hakama and eating mochi with his younger brother.

The café is open under new management as Zayn has left us for greener pastures. Maybe it was his breakup with Gigi, who knows. Candi Panenka has bought it and is now hiring. I’m not sure which of these are customers and which are job seekers.

Finally, a photo shoot for January with the lovely Ebony Majak, staying warm and cosy in this lovely jumper and pink leggings.