Dear little WILLYFRED flew away on the morning of the 22nd June.
His health had been declining since Christmas and I was hand feeding him every four hours for the past couple of months which kept him going but eventually the vet said enough is enough we must let him go.
The vet very kindly came to our home and Bunny knew nothing.
Robert, myself, the vet and the assisting nurse all held him, all of us in tears and he drifted away in 10 seconds.
We stayed up all night the evening before and we gave him so much love and attention, he kind of had a remission and was able to play and eat, then once the sun came over the horizon he slipped back into his sleepy not so well self.
I am so grateful for his life. 8 years and 10 months. That’s a long time. His life was the last bridge between myself and my parent’s lives, and I see WILLYFRED as having been by my side all the way through the grief of losing them, giving me strength, reminding me that life is about bonding/ continuation and being in the moment as well as the simple things like eating and having fun.
Never, ever, will I regard an animal as nothing more than just an animal. WILLYFRED was remarkably intelligent and knowing, capable of empathy and understanding when his companion humans were in need. His natural intelligence blew me away……..GOD BLESS HIS LITTLE SOUL.
Oh by the way…he was also capable of complete destruction as well….like the time he chewed through all our computer wires, the TV wires, my stage clothes….. sprayed us hourly so we constantly had to change our clothes before going out, eating us out of house and home and humping everything soft within easy reach of guests who came for dinner including their handbags, nibbling ladies ankles….he loved the ladies, he was a constant flirt and his capability to exhibit pure joy with a single leap in the air will keep me smiling through thick and thin. We love you WILLYFRED.
All is good in the FRIPP/COX household.
Despite the weird summer weather the shows have been fantastic.
My god DEAL, KENT was electrifying…….the show went on and on, the audience asking for more and the heat in the room was like a sauna….loved it.
The one show I was not looking forward to was Glastonbury because of the logistics. This was for no other reason other than “how do you find a needle in a haystack?”……I was terrified of the scale of it and how on earth to get in, find our space etc.
Well I needn’t have worried, for all the apparent chaos this was a well oiled machine. The organisation was incredible. Our welcome was incredible.
We were taken to a house overlooking the site….what a wonderful spectacle….a temporary city of revellers. At this base we could rehearse then we were taken on to the PRS tent…. it was very muddy….but the atmosphere lifted me off my feet, truly amazing.
Our set was half an hour in front of one of the most important audiences in my life. Publishers/writers/MP’s/ industry bigwigs and it turned out to be what my husband and I refer to as a “set up”.
By this we mean our guardian angel is working his magic.
Simon and I performed mainly songs to be placed in CRIME AND PUNISHMENT and the audience loved it and wanted more and wanted to know about the whole project.
Everyone knows I tour constantly but funnily enough the industry isn’t aware I write all the time, even my own publisher! Who came up to me after and said he loved the new songs and he wants to prioritise them, to which I was able to say “Great because they are signed to you anyway!”
So Simon and I are looking into CRIMSON QUEEN being re-released with 4 new tracks and a possible acoustic version making the whole project a double album. (but this can only happen if the industry steps in, I can’t tour/write/act AND manage AND fund AND make everyone their food AND do the accounting)
Bringing to mind a Bill Rieflin saying “Toyah if you are capable of doing it all then people will let you do it all while they take a nice holiday in Spain!” He is right.
GRASSINGTON was a mega experience, wonderful audience, terrible weather!
My car developed an electrical fault on the M1. 159 miles from the venue. I panicked called Wong to ask where he was to see if he could get me on route but he was on the A1 ahead of me.
So managing to start the car and re-setting the electrics, I limped the car to Grassington. The RAC came just as I was about to go on stage and made it safe to drive back, (thank you!) then I had to limp the car back at 40 MPH to Worcester at which point I left it on the dealers forecourt and bought another car on the spot and drove it away…..never have I had to do that in my life but life is so damned busy I can’t risk not making it to a show.
HOUND has started shooting and so far it has been a great experience. GARY SHAIL is my husband in the film and I think he is fab……his character is a “father figure”, a man of standing within the publishing world of the 1890s. My character is a poet……..both real people…poets and writers………we continue shooting throughout the summer.
I woke up on Friday 24th June and turned the TV on and heard the news we are leaving the EU and was stunned. We were both in total shock.
It is now two weeks later and a kind of optimism is returning, especially with non-EU countries being willing to do trade deals with the UK but I am not at all sure we have done the right thing. But I do believe we must make the best of it and be forward-looking not backward looking with regret in our hearts.
The thought that we could be an “island utopia” leading the world in excellence is a wonderful thought, bringing back shipbuilding and our steel industries, but I don’t think those Utopian ideals are possible, simply because technology is designed to make the planet one single place and I believe that is something we should be aiming for, yes we need local governments serving us and I mean SERVING, we pay taxes, we all deserve to be valued and cherished, but we are a huge rock spinning in a vast universe….can we afford our divisions?
These are strange times and I hope they are great times too. Change should and can be good and I pray we can make amends to Europe who I feel very much akin to.
After playing UNDER THE BRIDGE at Fulham Football Ground (fabulous venue, can’t wait to go back next year) I had to drive up to Manchester to shoot a pilot with Noel Fielding and Jonathan Ross.
I can’t tell you about the pilot (top secret) but it did involve myself and Jonathan Ross in mortal combat with a clear plastic tube and a bug…….no more to be revealed from me……..it was hysterical.
Jonathan Ross to his credit made a point of apologising to me for ever saying anything derogatory about my appearance, way back in 2003 when I did I’M A CELEBRITY GET ME OUT OF HERE and I accepted. He was sincere and he didn’t have to apologise….case closed.
I’ve just finished writing a new song for CRIME AND PUNISHMENT with Simon Darlow and now I am off down the motorway again. This weekend I sing in Dorchester, Southampton and South Molton in the next 24 hours!
Oh by the way…he was also capable of complete destruction as well….like the time he chewed through all our computer wires, the TV wires, my stage clothes….. sprayed us hourly so we constantly had to change our clothes before going out, eating us out of house and home and humping everything soft within easy reach of guests who came for dinner including their handbags, nibbling ladies ankles….he loved the ladies, he was a constant flirt and his capability to exhibit pure joy with a single leap in the air will keep me smiling through thick and thin. We love you WILLYFRED.
