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 port ..read more

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 loves these. Marigold decided she had to get out today and do a bit of watering as the soil seemed quite dry. That’s better! But best of all, at the far end of the garden, there they were – marigolds! Marigold among the marigolds ..read more

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. The view from my room. As you can see, I have access to the lovely garden although it was too chilly today to get out there. I ..read more

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 r ..read more

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 i ..read more

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 an ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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 kee ..read more

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 ..read more