What's On Repeat This Week { Radiohead }

"music in the soul

can be heard by the Universe"

(anon)

Inspired by The Lover List's Tuesday Tunes.

If you haven't visited Brooke from The Lover List, then you really should. She has a wonderful blog and great choice in music. You will be inspired and you will end up making purchases on your iTunes. Credit card be warned.

If you were lucky enough to be brought up listening to your parents music, than it really can be the soundtrack to your life's memories. Childhood car trips listening to Dad's Sultan's of Swing tape (boy was repeat an annoying thing then), Mum's car trips with Simply Red, hauling dug up armfuls of pesky ragwort up the hillside of our paddock with the No Mercy album playing loudly on the back verandah for all to hear (a good reason to dump your bundle and get back to the end of the paddock and as far away from that noise as you can). Watching Nanna dancing like she's drying herself with a towel at impromptu family ABBA dancing parties (my Uncle is married to a Swedish girl, so we can be excused over that one).

It is no secret in this house that I'm a lover of music. I listen to anything. I listen to it often. And if I happen to be driving on my own sans children, I listen to it loud.  My playlist is wide and varied. I do not discriminate. You will find Enrique Iglesias, Neil Young, Pavarotti, Ministry of Sound and everything in between. 

But what I am is a repeater of music. Yes I will get to the end of my current favourite song, and I will hit that repeat button over and over again. And as often as I can get away with (surprisingly some people find this attribute annoying). Listening to my Mum's music playing over and over again while she is in the shower tells me that this might be a genetic thing ( I never need to hear Sail Away With Me by David Gray ever again in my lifetime, sorry Mum!) So I don't bother fighting this urge.

Posts like these, will be an occasional sum up of what I'm listening to on constant repeat at the moment. Whenever something makes me hit that repeat button over and over again, I promise to share it with you. Aren't you glad?

So what song inspired me to start this today. 

House of Cards by Radiohead. An oldie that I somehow missed and happened to hear only for the first time yesterday. My use of the repeat button has made up for that since then don't you worry.

You can listen to it here. 

This song makes me think of an old flat mate of mine, who I'm lucky enough to still call a good friend. Miss your company Kathy. Sending this one out to you with memories of laying on the couch with Bono stalking me. If I'd been there in 2007, we would definitely have listened to this while sharing one last drink before going to bed.

Love music?

Have a song or album that takes you back to another place?

Orange and Almond Syrup Cake

I've had several requests for this recipe after I used this cake in my Cup of Tea with Me Post. So here it is, and also in it's true uncropped image. Unlike the one I had to use previously. A lesson to never turn your back, however momentarily, on a delicious looking cake when you have a peckish husband roaming around the house.

Orange and Almond Syrup Cake

Cake 

2 whole oranges

250g almond meal

250g caster sugar

3 eggs

1 tspn baking powder

Syrup

60gm freshly squeezed orange juice

80gm caster sugar

80gm citrus marmalade

Place oranges into saucepan and cover with water. Bring to boil and simmer very gently, with lid closed for 45 minutes. Remove and discard water. Allow to cool.

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line a 20cm cake tin.

Once oranges have cooled, remove top and bottom of oranges, and cut into pieces.

Place all cake ingredients into food processor and process until mixture resembles a smooth batter.

Pour into tin and bake 40-45 minutes.

Once cake is out of the oven you can prepare the syrup. Place orange juice, sugar and marmalade into a small saucepan and over low heat continually stir the syrup until all of the sugar is dissolved. Using a skewer, pierce cake multiple times before pouring over syrup and allow it to absorb before serving.

Enjoy!

Returning to Work { The Paid Kind }

For the last three years, I have been lucky to be able to call myself a stay at home Mum. It has been the hardest, most exhausting, and rewarding job that I've ever had the pleasure of calling mine. At times pre-children, I had considered some of my previous bosses to be a little bit on the unreasonable and difficult side of things, but these two daughters of mine have out-matched, out-bossed and surpassed any dentist that I've ever had the displeasure at times of working with (my "real" profession is that of a dental hygienist).

Other bosses may have demanded and asked me to work faster, to clean more peoples teeth in my day, encourage patients to buy this, suggest that they may need this filling replaced. But none have ever accompanied me on my every toilet trip, sat on my lap every time I tried to eat my breakfast or lunch, ate my food right of my plate, or laid on the floor and kicked and screamed at me when they found out they couldn't have their own way. They didn't follow me around all day, assisting and micro managing me in everything that I did. They haven't woken me in the night and kept me awake for hours on end, or consistently interrupted and needed something every time I try to have a conversation with somebody else. They haven't tried to snatch my phone out of my hand mid-sentence because they want to talk to Grandma, leaving me having to walk around aimlessly (whilst talking) so that my phone is out of their reach. And no dentist has ever kept me so busy that every cup of coffee I tried to drink was lukewarm by the time I actually had the chance to sit down and enjoy it. If they had, I would have quit. One finger style.

Yes, these two little angels of mine. Sweet as they can be and as delightful as they are for most of the day, have worked me harder than anybody else has ever done previously.

I don't need a job, I already have one. And it is more than full-time. But it doesn't pay so well. And sometimes, a little break from this job, might not be such a bad thing for me. Because God knows it's hard to get a break at home. If Mum's in the house, she is always needed for something. Regardless of where I try to hide, or how boring I try to make myself seem.

So I'm returning to casual work, to have a break from what I now consider to be my "real" job, being a Mum. The fact that it pays, is an added bonus. And blissfully, it's not of the dental kind. I don't think I'm quite ready, nor have the head space for that over-scheduled, busy world just yet.

A stroke of good timing has landed me a casual job at our local visitors centre/cafe/gift shop. A chance to meet some of the relaxed holidaying folk who visit and pass through our town. A real departure from my dental background, but one I'm looking forward to. Now that I'm a Mum, I no longer feel as career orientated as I used to, and still dream (like so many of us do) of a job that I could do from home during school hours.

In the meantime while I'm still working on that dream, I'll happily clean, make scones, serve coffee and chat to grey nomads. All the while enjoying the chance to enjoy uninterrupted adult conversations, and hopefully a little peace and quiet from toddler banter. It doesn't read like work to me at all really.

Have you returned back to paid work?

Found it's a nice break away from home? 

Or just added to the chaos?

Doing Less and A Girls Only Picnic By the Sea Shore

A lazy weekend. One spent mostly on our own while my husband was away on a boy's camping trip. There was a time when my husband worked fly in fly out from Perth. Leaving me with our daughter, then eventually our two daughters, every second week.

Now that my youngest Jessie is older, I no longer feel daunted by caring for our two on my own. Despite this, the same old worried feelings that I often felt when my husband was working away, crept back in. What was I going to do on my lonesome to keep these two entertained? Even with a morning spent at the local pool with a friend, it left plenty of empty time to fill.

What I have learnt from similar anxious feelings like this. That when you have a strong urge to do more, often the best choice is to do less. What could have been a weekend full of outings and catch ups with friends to get us out of the house, became something completely the opposite.

We baked. We ate what we had in the fridge and cupboards. We played. I kept things simple; meals, activities and expectations of myself. I didn't rush through the household chores. I stayed in my pyjamas for longer than I would normally. We just did less.

And what I found. More calm moments. More stillness. More concentration in the girls play. Less tantrums and end of day raggedy behaviour.

It all reminds me of conversations had with my Nanna and my Mum. About times past, where not everybody drove cars, and trips out of the house with children were weekly ventures. Not daily rushed affairs to get out the door to dance lessons, play group. music and other such things. While the boredom of that type of living seems stifling to me, I can see the positives in it. More chances for children to just be. To play in their own little world. 

The truth, that sometimes that need to be social and busy, is more our own, and not our children's. Before this weekend I wouldn't have considered us to be "over-scheduled" in regards to the girls planned activities. But now I can't help but wonder if we might be. Just a little. 

Our afternoon trip to the "sea shore". Imagined and created by Amelie. A bike ride to the shops to collect food for our picnic. A rug to stop the sand from spoiling our food. Talk in hushed tones due to a nearby sleeping baby. Endless cups of tea. It was delightful.

Do you find doing less makes parenting easier?

Or are your children better when they're kept a little busy?

Oven-Baked Tuna and Tomato Risotto

With a husband away camping for a long weekend it's been just myself and the girls. I worried that the girls might have missed their Dad (he has been out of phone range, so we really haven't heard from him at all). But things have gone more smoother than I expected.

I won't say that they haven't missed him. But they have been their usual selves, playing happily together one minute and snatching toys from one another the next. All of which was a huge relief. Nothing worse than trying to calm a toddler and trying to explain the reasons why we can't call Daddy today.

So after a busy morning at the pool with friends and over tired children this afternoon, it called for a simple filling meal tonight. Our go to. One that everybody eats without complaint. 

Oven-baked Tuna and Tomato Risotto

875ml chicken stock

10g butter

2 tspns olive oil

1 medium brown onion, chopped finely

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 1/2 cups Arborio rice

425g can tuna in oil, drained gently

1 cup frozen peas

250g cherry tomatoes, halved

2 tbspns lemon juice

Preheat oven to 180C, or 160C fan forced.

Bring stock to boil in medium sized saucepan. Meanwhile, melt butter with olive oil in large saucepan, cook onion and garlic, stirring, until onion softens. Add rice, stir to coat in onion mixture. Stir in hot stock and tuna.

Place risotto mixture in a large shallow baking dish, cover with foil. Bake in oven, 15 min, stirring halfway through cooking time. Uncover, bake another 20 minutes. Stir in peas, top with tomatoes, bake uncovered, about 15 minutes or until rice is tender. Remove from oven, stir in lemon juice.

Hope yours was a relaxing weekend x

Yellow { and The Power of Colour }

My emotions became the better of me during the week. I found myself in a slump. An emotional slump. A blogging slump. I was in a mood. And a very negative one at that.

I was over the constant 40 degree heat day after day after day, over the repetitive sameness that can be living in this town at times. Over being stuck in the middle of nowhere. Annoyed that it's costing the four of us $6,000 to return home to Tasmania for Christmas. I wanted to be back in amongst civilisation. Visit the beach. Visit a trendy cafe. Be anywhere else but here.

I found myself on Pinterest one night (when I should have been in bed sleeping). Pinning wildly. Surrounded by so many beautiful and inspiring images and ideas. And I was reminded of the power of colour to lift and brighten your mood.

Yellow truly is "my" colour. I find it so uplifting and happy. You can't help but think good thoughts when you look at images such as these. They are certain to put a smile on your dial.

What I'm clearly realising, is that I need more splashes of yellow in my life and home. I've always coveted a yellow dala horse so it's probably time I tried to find one. And while I continue to try and convince my husband that we should paint our dining chairs yellow, I might just have to settle for some yellow nail polish, for now. But mostly what I need is to buy a house with stairs, because of all these images, the yellow wall papered stairs are my absolute favourite. Instant happy.

Do you have a colour?
Does it brighten your mood?

Linking up with Sonia from Life, Love and Hiccups and Maxabella Loves for their weekend rewind x

A Cup of Tea With Me

Hello there, welcome to My Yellow Heart. If we haven't met before, and you're joining me through Pip's Blog With Pip linkin, then it's lovely to meet you and thanks for stopping by.

On a whim, I enrolled in the Blog with Pip course to improve my blogging skills. It has been a busy last few weeks. I've met a lovely supportive group of fellow bloggers who have inspired me to continue what I'm doing here, to do it better, and in a more creative and smart way.

Pip has been inundated from endless questions from all of us, and is truly the most patient person you could ask for. Teaching a group of people how to get your own blogging host, domain, change to wordpress is no easy task (one I'm still in the process of changing). Something always goes wrong, codes don't work, or it can simply feel overwhelming. Nothing has been too much to ask of Pip, at any time. She has been a huge support.

If you're considering enrolling in the next intake of the Blog with Pip course, please do. I can't recommend it highly enough. You certainly won't regret it.

My final assignment, to end our blogging course with. A way for you to get to know me a little better, if you don't already. So please feel free, to pour yourself a cup of tea, enjoy a piece of orange syrup cake and sit with me. I even brought out my special tea cosy, a gift from my Nanna especially for the occasion, and I don't do that for just anybody in 40 degree weather.

And for those in my blogging group who are amazingly crafty, know that this knitted, or is it crocheted (I'm not actually sure about that one, I think crochet) tea cosy from my Nanna might be as close as this blog gets to a knitting needle for quite sometime yet.

1 } Name, state and a bit about what you do on a daily basis.
I'm Carla, and I live in the West Australian Pilbara. Think lots of red dirt and dust, hot weather and stunning coastlines. I like to look at it as our red adventure. I am a stay at home Mum to our two spirited daughters Amelie and Jessie. What do I do on a daily basis? Well I pick up endless amounts of toys scattered on the floor, tidy, cook, do craft, play dolls, build up ups and clean (occasionally). And while I might complain about it some days, I really wouldn't want to have it any other way.

2 } Favourite things to do.
I enjoy cooking, pottering around home, reading, music and writing. Living in this part of the world has really inspired us to travel and see new places while we're living here. Getaways to the coast, day trips to all the amazing rock pools and national parks that surround where we live is definitely a favourite thing to do for me at the moment. The landscape is amazing and so different to what I grew up surrounded by (I'm originally from Tasmania).

3 } Favourite place to be.
I miss walks along the beach. I miss a cool sea breeze. The beach is easily my favourite place to be.

4 } Favourite things to eat and drink.
I love seafood. And I also really love it when somebody cooks for me, then I really don't mind what I'm eating! I'm equal parts tea and coffee drinker and I love nothing better than a glass of wine, or a vodka lime and soda (fresh lime only please).

5 } Favourite inspirations.
I'm inspired by people who take risks, and make big changes to achieve their dreams and get to where they want to be. I love listening to peoples hopes and plans for themselves and their families.

6 } Something I want to know more about.
I'd love to know more about my Portuguese family history, but lack of time and language barriers have made things complicated so far. On the to do list.

7 } Some favourite blogs.
I enjoy reading lots of blogs. Some inspire, some give me a taste of that beach lifestyle that I miss, others give me house envy or food envy, or simply just make me laugh. I love some of the more well-known ones such as BabyMac, Maxabella Loves, Tales from A Happy House, and Life, Love and Hiccups. But I also really love some of the smaller blogs such as A Little Bit Country, Teacups Too, Honey and Fizz, House Nerd and Cake Crumbs and Beach Sand.

The blogging world is like a rabbit warren, you can so easily get lost in it and find yourself up at 11pm and still reading!

Find yourself doing the same?
What are your favourite blogs to read?