Trollip: Why ‘haves’ must pay
THERE is a saying that you do not own a cat, it owns you and, staying true to form, Fabio showed he was king of the castle when he dominated the scene during a live interview with mayor Athol Trollip on Wednesday.
Affectionately referred to as Fab by Trollip’s wife, Janine, the grey-and-white cat stole the show when he made himself comfortable on the mayor’s lap in front of the camera – staying there for the entire sit-down interview with Trollip and his wife.
No stranger to the spotlight, Fabio, who received a number of tweets and a question on his name during a Facebook Live interview, has also been seen on the front page of The Herald’s sister publication, Daily Dispatch, according to his loyal subject, Trollip.
“I was never a cat person before, but this cat, I promise you, it is like a dog,” he said.
“It comes when you call, it chases a ball. It’s just like a dog.
“When we go to bed it walks down the passage and jumps up [onto the bed] and sleeps right next to my head.
“If I get up and go to the bathroom or something and I come back he is still in the same place, it’s his place.”
Dominating the Trollip household is no easy feat, but Fabio is comfortable lounging about in the stylish Walmer home decorated by Janine, who according to her husband even made all the curtains.
“I’m really lucky. I’m married to a superwoman – she’s a brilliant seamstress,” he said.
The couple, who have been married for just under a year, said it was the time they spent alone at home together which helped them unwind.
“When I married him he wasn’t a mayor. He wasn’t planning to be a mayor.
“You can’t really choose who you fall in love with, but it’s not so stressful for me. My job is to keep him happy so that’s an easy one,” Janine said.
Trollip said although he seldom brought work home, he and Janine spoke often about issues relevant to the city and to themselves.
“Sometimes there are issues that are in the paper and then Janine will ask me about it and we will talk about it.”
Spending time alone is very important to the couple, who moved to Walmer from their Richmond Hill home to have more space and to amalgamate their two households into one.
“We needed a bigger house. We were getting married,” Janine said.
“Athol had furniture in storage, I’ve got a house in Port Alfred that I have tenants in, so we had furniture sitting in storage. “It made sense.” In their spare time they enjoy entertaining guests at home, going to the movies because then the phones get switched off or pottering around their garden.
“The day I try to make spare time is on Sundays,” Trollip said.
“We go to church and have a bite of breakfast somewhere and then we like to read the Sunday papers together, work in our garden, mow the lawn, make a fire in the evening.
“That is what we like to do.”