Monthly Archives: September 2017

Zyliss Classic Food Chopper

A couple of weeks ago I did have a Zyliss sort of onion-puller thing which I struggled with a little bit. I found another gadget from Zyliss in the cupboard, I forgot about it, I’ve had it for like 10 years! It chops up onions.

Chop an onion in half, stick the chopper over the top and just slap down on it a couple of times. Perfectly diced onions.

You can find the chopper on the Kitchen Warehouse website

 

Related: Things I Love

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The Easy Pull

https://youtu.be/wsDKXzO6TWA It's gadget time again! This one comes from Zyliss and it's called the 'Easy Pull.' I've never used it before, it's the first time, so I'm giving it a bit of a crack. Cut the onion in half, take the lid off, just po ... [read more]

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Mango Peeler & Pipper

https://youtu.be/9p52qep1Tos I found this bloke when I was out shopping for a birthday present and thought it was fantastic. They're great if you're struggling for Mother's Day gift ideas, too. It's so simple to use, just put the mango straight ... [read more]

Georgia’s brilliant idea

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That was a brilliant idea from Georgia, and that’s what they like from contestants—they think outside the box and they save money. I mean, if someone else pays 5K for cabinetry and she buys a wardrobe for $50, it’s a smart way to go, and she does a great job at that. I used to love buying an old table and sanding it up and doing it up, and oiling it and things like that. My big thing is finding stuff on the side of the road— instead of buying it I like to find things on the side of the road. My coffee table that I’ve got at home was a workbench that I found on the side of the road, and I just sanded it all back and cleaned it all up, cut the legs off and turned it into a coffee table, which I’ve had for 25 years. And it’s still my coffee table and I found it on the side of a road.

 

Related: The Block

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Snow Challenge

This was a lot of fun. We were doing the bedrooms and, you know, it’s not a big room once you’ve done three rooms in one week, you’re only doing a bedroom. So, we took them off to the snow for two days to Mt. Buller, and we just put in a bi ... [read more]

Wk5 Sarah & Jason Working-05

Hallway week

They always underestimate the size of the hallway, they think ‘Oh, this is going to be an easy week’, and it brings people unstuck every single year and this was no different. Everybody was working through the night in the end, thinking it wa ... [read more]

Snow Challenge

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This was a lot of fun. We were doing the bedrooms and, you know, it’s not a big room once you’ve done three rooms in one week, you’re only doing a bedroom. So, we took them off to the snow for two days to Mt. Buller, and we just put in a big challenge there for them to makeover a room. I thought all of them did a fantastic job. The snow was amazing, it was good fun, but it got them away from The Block for 2 days, so that put the pressure back on them. They thought ‘bedroom week, nice and easy’, but we took them away for 2 days. And Mt. Buller is how long a drive from Melbourne?
About 3 and a half.

I didn’t ski. I’m too old, what with my knees and shoulders, so I didn’t risk injuring myself, but a few of the crew had a bit of a ski. But contestants had no time.

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Related: The Block

Wk5 Sarah & Jason Working-05

Hallway week

They always underestimate the size of the hallway, they think ‘Oh, this is going to be an easy week’, and it brings people unstuck every single year and this was no different. Everybody was working through the night in the end, thinking it wa ... [read more]

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Challenge in Red Hill

It was a really lovely house. I think a holiday house, for me, I like it to be near the beach because you go on holidays and you want to walk to the beach and have a swim. And maybe a pool or something like that, so if I was going into a Stayz jo ... [read more]

Outdoor Barby Table

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My saw mill has a slab cutter, so we slabbed up an old stringybark tree to make this bush table. It was just out the back under a tarp and it came up a treat. We’ve had 100’s of meals with family and friends at the bush dining table.

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Related: Stories of Interest

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Dog Tips

It’s no secret that I love dogs. I’ve had a dog since I was born. Barney, Buffy, Clarie, Lizzy and Rosie. Rosie is still going at 12 and Lizzy is stuffed and sitting on the stairs at home.  Training a dog to me is very important for t ... [read more]

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Splitting Firewood

Mudgee is a cold place, so firewood collection is a big job that needs to be done on a regular basis. We’ve got plenty of fallen timber all over the property. So up the mountain we go in a couple of utes and a couple of chain saws and of course ... [read more]

Hallway week

Wk5 Sarah & Jason Working-05

They always underestimate the size of the hallway, they think ‘Oh, this is going to be an easy week’, and it brings people unstuck every single year and this was no different. Everybody was working through the night in the end, thinking it wasn’t going to take this long. And I always love hallway week because they get a false sense of security.

Wk5 Sticks & Wombat Working-27

If you liked any of the products you saw on The Block, head over to The Block Shop and shop your favourite styles from the show.

 

Related: The Block

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Challenge in Red Hill

It was a really lovely house. I think a holiday house, for me, I like it to be near the beach because you go on holidays and you want to walk to the beach and have a swim. And maybe a pool or something like that, so if I was going into a Stayz jo ... [read more]

H1 RM6 Bedroom Jason & Sarah-11

Sarah and Jason get into hot water

We’re working on kitchen week which is the heart of the home, the most important room of the house—it sells houses, we all know that. And Freedom Kitchens are fantastic, they’re doing a great job. But more importantly, we’ve got Sarah and ... [read more]

Challenge in Red Hill

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It was a really lovely house. I think a holiday house, for me, I like it to be near the beach because you go on holidays and you want to walk to the beach and have a swim. And maybe a pool or something like that, so if I was going into a Stayz joint, that’s what I’d wanna have—I wanna be able to walk to the beach, have a pool, cook a barbie or a pizza. When I’m in a holiday house I like to stay at home, I don’t like to go out, I don’t like to go to a restaurant, I like to cook at home and drink at home and do all those sorts of things.

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Related: The Block

H1 RM6 Bedroom Jason & Sarah-11

Sarah and Jason get into hot water

We’re working on kitchen week which is the heart of the home, the most important room of the house—it sells houses, we all know that. And Freedom Kitchens are fantastic, they’re doing a great job. But more importantly, we’ve got Sarah and ... [read more]

Art Challenge-1002722

Art challenge

Well, we had an art challenge at a big factory in Williamstown, and I thought well I’ve got time on my hands because I’m just wandering around, so I painted three paintings myself, because I’ve had some walls to fill at a rental property. S ... [read more]

Sarah and Jason get into hot water

H1 RM6 Bedroom Jason & Sarah-1

We’re working on kitchen week which is the heart of the home, the most important room of the house—it sells houses, we all know that. And Freedom Kitchens are fantastic, they’re doing a great job. But more importantly, we’ve got Sarah and Jason who got three zeros and have been threatened by me that if they don’t finish this week’s room and last week’s room— pack your bags and get out. And I was deeply offended by the way they carried on, and I thought that they were disrespectful to everybody—crew, producers, everyone like that—and I was pretty upset with them.

Ten thousand people applied to get on The Block, and you’re on The Block and you’re not giving it 100 percent, that’s not in the spirit of The Block. They’re the first couple to get three zeros, first couple where if they didn’t accomplish what I set them, they were definitely packing their bags and going.

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If you liked any of the products you saw on The Block, head over to The Block Shop and shop your favourite styles from the show.

 

Related: The Block

Art Challenge-1002722

Art challenge

Well, we had an art challenge at a big factory in Williamstown, and I thought well I’ve got time on my hands because I’m just wandering around, so I painted three paintings myself, because I’ve had some walls to fill at a rental property. S ... [read more]

Art challenge

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Well, we had an art challenge at a big factory in Williamstown, and I thought well I’ve got time on my hands because I’m just wandering around, so I painted three paintings myself, because I’ve had some walls to fill at a rental property. So, I thought I’d paint these paintings, and I was very pleased with them.

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I’ve never painted before. I was just mucking around with sponges and everything like that. I did mention that I was going to set up a studio at my farm but I’m actually not going to do that, cause I’m not that good but, you know, I had a good time doing it though, and I found it very relaxing and very creative.

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If you liked any of the products you saw on The Block, head over to The Block Shop and shop your favourite styles from the show.

 

Related: The Block

H4 RM4 Study Sticks & Wombat-05

Living/Dining week, plus judging from anything but a bedroom week

They’re doing living and dining room week, so it’s a big week cause it's two rooms, and massive amounts of gyprock and all that sort of thing. And a few of them are upset about the ‘anything but a bedroom’ week because they were criticise ... [read more]

Pre-order my new book!

Scot Cam Shed_Cvr

I’m really excited to announce that my new book, Scotty’s Top Aussie Sheds, is now available for pre-order and will be in stores from October 25. Click here to order yours.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to submit their sheds, they were all fantastic and it was really hard to nail it down to the final 20. It was even harder to choose a winner, but in the end Richard Snedden from NSW got the nod and you can see why from the photos below, who wouldn’t want a shed like that!

I’ll be making some appearances to do a few book signings in November, so keep an eye out on my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages, I might be dropping into a bookstore near you.

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Related: Recent Posts

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The Easy Pull

https://youtu.be/wsDKXzO6TWA It's gadget time again! This one comes from Zyliss and it's called the 'Easy Pull.' I've never used it before, it's the first time, so I'm giving it a bit of a crack. Cut the onion in half, take the lid off, just po ... [read more]

H4 RM4 Study Sticks & Wombat-05

Living/Dining week, plus judging from anything but a bedroom week

They’re doing living and dining room week, so it’s a big week cause it's two rooms, and massive amounts of gyprock and all that sort of thing. And a few of them are upset about the ‘anything but a bedroom’ week because they were criticise ... [read more]