You know how sometimes you feel like you’re just barely staying afloat? Kind of in your mind not the best thing right? Well get that thought out of your mind when you are thinking about this floating cottage in Pleasantville! It’s called Ketch Cottage but I found it at “Staying Afloat NS”

I was casually browsing Facebook when I saw an ad, or a share, or a post… I am not sure where it started, but it was a little video of a floating cottage. And I knew, it would be a place that I had to visit!

The cottage is no longer floating out in the river, its attached to a dock that rises along with the tide (Just like the cottage) so that it can have power and water and all of that goodness. (We really appreciated the heat pump while we were there and power in general too! So the cottage has three sides on the water… which makes getting on and off quite convenient but still gives the vibes of floating and being ON the water.

We met Gordon and Cindy when we first arrived and they were both so sweet, you could tell this has been a labour of love for them, and that one (or both) are super detail oriented, and it pays off in spades!

Every detail has been thought of. The little plastic stoppers so that cupboards don’t bang against the walls, USB ports in the outlets, dimmers and bug spray! Of course they have all the normal goodness like towels, all the things you’d need in a cottage kitchen, but perfectly coordinated, fully stocked and still keeping with the minimalist tiny home vibes.

Oh and if you’re wondering how we got away without the kids just weeks after being away…. KIDS CAMP! 

Honestly guys, I feel like I could live here. It’s really brought back the tiny home vibes to me. But you don’t have to take my word for the cuteness factor. You can check out the many many photos I took while Meaghan was eating chips on the dock! Lol

Meaghan (who we all know by now is pretty much family) got to come along for the first night because I forgot Alex had a group ride through the bike shop when we made the two night booking…so she came the first night and we met up with Alex at noon the next day and we switched up 🙂

Wednesday night when we arrived Meaghan and I got settled, and I had bought things to make a charcuterie board, but as we were leaving my parents I was getting hungry, so I grabbed a couple things out of the freezer. Remembering there wasn’t an oven I quickly googled how to cook spring rolls and and frozen pizza on a BBQ. I am now even more convinced that there is no need to cook inside for the summer season (have you seen my BBQ skillet yet? Just wait! )

And before I messed it up… I grabbed these photos to share with you guys!

So we chilled and grilled, and then with very full tummies went for a sunset paddle.

(Ketch Cottage rental comes with use of the Kayaks, fishing poles and Fire Pit. I wanted to use the fire pit but there was NOT A BREEZE the second night so the buggies were a little….buggy…)

It was a beautiful night with a cool breeze and a beautiful pink sky. We also got to meet a little seal friend who popped up on either side of our kayaks three or four times before we headed back (it was hard to peel Meaghan away but it was getting dark and I was a wee bit chillsy)

We used the heat pump to take off the chill after the paddle which is HILARIOUS to me because the next day it was 36 degrees! No way we would have even thought about using the heat!

After getting rocked to sleep by the gentle waves Meghan and I had a slow morning and then headed to the Lahave Bakery. It’s pretty iconic in the area, and super cute, with lots of great treats! 

We got some iced chai lattes and noticed a couple of artists painting on the dock outside. We went to chat with them and took a look at what they were working on. I love seeing the connection in the community, artist Wesley Lowe was one of the men painting, and he was painting the pottery shop on the river, which is the pottery shop who made the super cute Lahave mugs in Ketch Cottage.

Beach Exploring on the South Shore + the Rose Bay Bistro

We took the little Lahave Ferry and drove to Sand Dollar Beach, which I would suggest as a nice beach if you’re looking for a place to sit and read a book quietly while listening to the ocean but I didn’t see any evidence of Sand Dollars and I think the tide was in so there was a very small beach area.

After a quick potty break we moved on to Hirtles beach which was lovely. The water was cold but I wished that Finn was there with his boogie board, because the waves looked amazing for boogie boarding! Alex met us at the beach (and I totally didn’t recognize him while he was walking… lol oops!)

We walked most of the beach and then I turned us around because I was getting HUNGRY!!!! I already knew where we would be going for lunch, because Rose Bay Bistro was a gem we found the year before! It only opened in May of last year and the two friends who started it are doing some great work. It’s inside the Rose Bay General Store where you can get what you need for camping or at your cottage (ice, drinks, tasty local eats and treats and the old classics like pop and chips)

The interior of the Bistro is super cute and the little teak patio is nothing to turn your nose up at either.

 LOVE the twinkle light tree (SHOCKING I know!!) and the fun touches like the locally made tables and flowers picked from the garden outside on each one. The menu is diverse and tasty! Last year Alex got fish and chips and I got the ABC Sandwich (apple bacon and cheese mmmmmmm) this year we came back and we split a pizza (we got the Sonah, which was also the name of our server! It was tasty with Brie, Pear, Walnuts and Balsamic drizzle and a sprinkle of arugala.

Alex and Meaghan had all day breakfast and I had their pulled pork and what I believe were house cut fries, and I think I won (though none of us had ANYTHING left on our plates when we were done!) the pulled pork was both spicy and sweet and coupled with their homemade cucumber slaw (which I saw a lot of people ordering as a side dish, which I wouldn’t choose instead of the fries cuz they were awesome, especially with the garlic aioli :))

We didn’t have room for desert but they had freshly baked gooey chocolate chip cookies that we took “for the road” that I had to hide the last one of from Alex so I could eat it that evening when I was not so full!!! I had it with a bite of ice cream and it was EPIC (you guys should offer them a la mode in restaurant, gooey chocolate chip sundaessssssssss)

Oh gosh now I want one RIGHT NOW.

We came back to the cottage for an afternoon nap, Alex slept on the deck and I had a siesta in bed then laid in the sun for a little bit, and then we decided we were feeling a bit lazy so we went for a BEAUTIFUL walk on Rissers Beach. It was the best beach for walking even though we didn’t find any Sand Dollars this time. There were a couple of places it was hot enough I almost went swimming, but I had forgotten a beach towel (which they did have at the cottage, so my mistake!) and it was LONG walk back to the car so I opted to only go in till my knees. But I got my 10,000 steps and happily enjoyed listening to the waves and enjoying the beautiful day.

We also went for a short Kayak, only about 40 minutes, but I wasn’t hungry enough for supper when we got back (I’m telling you my lunch FILLED ME UP!!!)  but then I made nachos on the BBQ for supper! Mine were fully veggie loaded and TASTY sitting out on the deck as the sun went down.

The Sun started to go down and the black flies were in full force because there was not even the illusion of a breeze. I wanted to have a fire but it was HOT and buggy so we chose to sit inside and play Chinese checkers, do some emails, and upload our stories to Instagam 🙂

Somehow it got to be late and I was ready for sleep, and we actually had to hit the road early for some work we had back in the city so we left the cottage just after 7 and I was so sad to be leaving.

But I assured Gordon as we were packing up, that we would most certainly be back!

***We received partial compensation for some of the locations mentioned in this post, but as always all of our opinions are genuine and fully ours! ***