Life/lifestyle – Page 4 – Ivor.Plumber/Poet

The Tourist Has a Rest Day

Lady O and the O’men

Sunday we drove up the coast, not too far away, for lunch and live music at the Osborne Bay Pub. And I meet a group of Penny and Dave’s friends, Nancy & Joe, Joy, Jane & David, Pauline & Patrick, and Hermann. (Yep, they all received one of Ivor’s poetry cards)

The Tourist Has a Rest Day

Where else would I want to be?
On a rainy Sunday afternoon
But at the rustic Osborne Bay Pub
Overlooking the opal blue bay
For my Canadian tour’s rest day

There, listening to live jazz music
From the talented, Lady O and the O’men
Enjoying the Irish Guinness beer on tap
Then sipping on a Cabernet Sauvignon
From Smoky Bay, South Eastern Australia

Ivor Steven (c) September 2025

Gabriola Island

From the delightful township of Nanaimo we went by ferry over to the picturesque Gabriola Island, where I had arranged to meet up with my fellow WordPress pen-friend, Louise Gallagher. We had previously met via Ali Grimshaw’s, ‘Writing Circle’ Zoom meetings. Meeting Louise in person was very exciting for both of us. Our shared love of words and nature made Gabriola the perfect backdrop for a memorable meeting, now captured in the images that follow.

Cousin Penny and Louise. Louse’s lovely sunflowers

Louise and Ivor together with Bau, David, and Penny on the sundeck

The view from Louise’s sundeck

On the beach in front of Louise’s house

Louise: https://dareboldly.com/ and, https://sundayswithbeaumont.com/

Ali Grimshaw: https://flashlightbatteries.blog/

Gabriola Island

Ivor Steven (c) September 2025

Duncan’s Totem Trail (a Haiku)

The traditional towering totems of the Cowichan Tribe in Duncan

Duncan’s Totem Trail

Follow the footsteps
Around Duncan’s Totem trail
Cowichan stories

Ivor Steven (c) September 2025

Aspiring to Spiral Higher

Today we drove to downtown Victoria

There were many inspiring spires

We had lunch at the Flying Otter Restaurant

Victoria’s Inner Harbour area

The shopping mall and my purchase at Russell Books

My photos of some fascinating street art murals

Aspiring to Spiral Higher

Higher than the hovering bees,
I am gazing beyond the towering trees.

Wondering:
Does all that sky ever feel at ease
Hanging above our polluted seas?

Wandering,
Through life on blended knees,
I am like yesterday’s mountain breeze-
Aspiring to spiral around the big freeze.

Ivor Steven (c) Sept 2025

Wainwright, Alberta Prairie, without Frankie

Featured image Above: Frankie, looking happy and relaxed back at my brother’s house in Ballarat. Victoria. Australia,

Cousin Maureen and Ivor

The sun sets over Wainwright and Maureen’s doggies. Co-co and Z-z

The Wainwright township

Wainwright

The town clock tower and my sleeping quarters at Maureen’s

Walking the doggies at sunset

Ivor Steven (c) Sept 2025

Sidney and Tanner’s Books

Today, cousin Lynn and I went to the lovely seaside town, Sidney

My cousin with the ‘Statue’ outside Tanner’s Books

The Sidney waterfront

Apartments overlooking the sea and the cafe on the pier

Statues at the waterfront, and me and Mungo

My purchases at Tanner’s Books

Ivor Steven (c) August 2025

My Furry Canadian Cousins

First day was a rest and recover one and get to meet my my cousins and their doggies

Furry cousins, Archie, Mungo, and Kelly, with cousin in law, Robin and his veggie garden.

The view from the veranda deck, where I am writing this article.

Ivor Steven (c) August 2025

Dusty Passport

Today’s Throwback Friday poem is from February 2019, when I was preparing myself for a trip to America/New York/Philadelphia, to visit my Philadelphia “cousins”, and today, here I am on Vancouver Island visiting my Canadian “cousins”.

Dusty Passport (revised)

Here I was resting, home again from the hospital,
after a second stroke had laid me up.
I was rekindling thoughts of travelling to America —
an adventure I’d always promised myself.
Night is not always dark, you know.

Firstly, I had to find my passport.
Yes, I’d hidden it somewhere safe.
After turning the bedroom inside out,
then, throwing the lounge room upside down,
the lost document was on a garage shelf —
looking dusty, but still only five years old.

Jumping for joy, you’d think I’d found gold.
Hardly ever been stamped — a Chinese one, that’s all.
Many years have passed since my last call.

I clasped that passport firmly in my hand’
and I said, “It’s time”, before my clock runs out of sand.

Ivor Steven (c) August 2025

“Who’s the Pilot”, is in this week’s Coffee House Writers Magazine edition.

Hello, dear readers and followers. I write for Coffee House Writers magazine (USA) fortnightly, and my poem “Who’s the Pilot” is in this week’s edition.
To read the poem, please click the link below to visit my Coffee House Writers Magazine article.
>> https://coffeehousewriters.com/whos-the-pilot/