Welcome! Thank you for visiting The Homemade Heart . My name is Penny. I am a country woman at heart, and although I now live in central Scotland, I dream constantly of the Scottish Highlands and Islands where I grew up. We were a peripatetic family; my Dad was a wanderer, a romantic dreamer, constantly seeking something not-quite-seen just over the horizon, like a comet in a restless orbit. Caught like particles of stardust in his wake, we moved many times, always in Scotland, each move taking us further north until we were perched on a tiny island on the edge of the vast Atlantic ocean.
Those childhood days are now far behind me, and I have made my own family life, with my husband and two boys, in a village near Glasgow. I do still frequently feel a strong urge to pack up and move back to the highlands. However, our family life is where we are for the foreseeable future.
Home is important to me, and as well as feeling happy and comfortable myself, I want my home to feel cosy and welcoming to my family, and friends. Home comforts, and habits, are the broad basis for this blog; I enjoy writing about everything home-related, as well as personal pleasures and experiences.
Though a nurse by profession, I have been a stay at home mum for some years now, and consider it a privilege to be at home for my two boys. I loved my job, and still miss it, however being at home as the boys grow up has been an overwhelmingly positive experience.
As my boys are now in their teens, I have a little more time for creativity and learning new skills. I adore books, and am a life long reader. I knit and crochet (a little, and not very well!) and have recently fallen in love with quilting. I enjoy taking photographs for my blog, and am constantly trying to improve my photography skills. I love baking, and enjoy giving gifts of home baking and preserves to friends and family at holiday times.
When I started The Homemade Heart, I intended it to be a baking blog. I imagined all my posts would look something like this . However, though I blogged about baking, very soon I found myself writing about other things; books, music, my family, my home, crafting, the countryside, and now I can't imagine it any other way. My blog has become a haphazard journal of family life, an aide memoir for some favourite recipes, and a place where I connect with other bloggers. The last has been an unexpected joy.
Thank you so much for reading my 'About' page. Please visit my blog whenever you like, you will always be made welcome.
I can hear the kettle whistling; you've got time for a cup of tea, haven't you?
