Frugal day out

We always try and have a 'treat' once in a while and today we went to Tavistock. Unfortunately, so did everyone else! It was packed. We visited the pannier market and I bought some string and grease proof paper to wrap my soap, which I will give as gifts. We looked for somewhere to eat and have a cup of tea and I got what I can only describe as the 'jitters' about spending any money! I know a cup of tea and a piece of cake can blow our budget. We ended up having a pasty and a cup of tea each, which cost the incredible amount of £8 for the pair of us! That just seems so much money to me and could provide the pair of us with three meals a day for the weekend.

Tavistock is such a lovely old market town, full of expensive shops........don't worry! I didn't go in those. Lovely craft stalls in the pannier market with delightful fabrics and I didn't buy those either. As usual, I browsed around the charity shops, which had nothing I fancied today but charity shops are like that; some days full of treasures and some days full of things you just don't want. I also visited Odds and Suds and took a look at their handmade soaps. They were impressively priced but don't let my miserly ways stop you from buying a product that brings a well needed income to the local economy.

We saw some amazing shops selling locally produced food and the farmer's market was in town as well. I didn't buy anything today; I didn't go with the intention of doing so. After the shock of 'eating out' I couldn't bring myself to spend any money.

This evening I made 'Rose geranium and lavender' soap and had my first soap disaster. It reached trace very quickly and then proceeded to cook even more when I poured it into moulds and ended up expanding out of the moulds. It cracked and split! I researched this and it implied that it may have had too little water, so I added some until I was able to re blend it and get it back to a gel like substance. Consequently my arm nearly fell off stirring the gloopy soap. I can't bear to throw it away and I will attempt my first 're-batching' as it is still grainy and unpleasant to the eye. It smells so divine that I just can't waste it, especially as I have used coconut oil and shea in the recipe. If it all goes wrong, then I shall have the world's most luxurious laundry soap!

Soap disaster or not, we've had the loveliest day together.