This summer, try a refreshing strawberry vodka cocktail made with Svedka strawberry vodka and V8 Sparkling Energy.  This is a light drink that's perfect for summer evenings.  You can make this as energy drink cocktails with V8 Sparkling Energy or use a sparkling flavored water instead. After a long day of working in the heat, there's just something about sitting on the patio with a refreshing drink.  I'm partial to fruity drinks, and I really like this strawberry and vodka cocktail. It's made with a can of V8 Sparkling Energy (or sub for any sparkling soda), so it's easy to make.  Both are shelf stable, so just grab them off the shelf and mix. I added some freshly sliced kiwi and strawberry for looks, but you can definitely just use the strawberry vodka and the sparkling water to make a strawberry kiwi alcoholic drink. This would be a fun drink for a small party too.  You can have different flavors of vodka or sparkling water.  Then let guests create their own energ

 Try one of these 15 best zucchini dessert recipes when you have an overabundance of zucchini this summer. These delicious recipes are so good, your family will never suspect that they are vegetables hidden inside! Summer means zucchini everything. Zucchini chips, zucchini boats, zucchini cake, and zucchini bread. My kids are partial to zucchini cake with a homemade frosting recipe. Yum! My daughter usually requests it for her birthday. There are 100s of recipes to make with this summer squash, so this year I started compiling the best zucchini sweet recipes along with main dishes, healthy recipes, breads, and more. This is 15 of the best shredded zucchini dessert recipes. I can't wait to try more ways to use extra zucchini this summer. 15 of the Best Zucchini Dessert Recipes Each zucchini plant can yield about 10 pounds of zucchini per growing season. That's a lot of zucchini! It's no wonder Midwesterners are known for sneaking zucchini onto their neighbor's porches. W

How to make a gardener's hand scrub recipe to gently scrub away dirt and debris after gardening.  This Epsom salt scrub recipe is strong enough to get rid of dirt, but the natural oils in the Epsom salt scrub recipe nourish your skin to make it softer. Spring means gardening.  We live in farm country, and we have excellent soil for gardening.  We grow several types of vegetables and herbs so we can preserve them for the year. While my husband does most of the vegetable gardening, I mainly grow herbs in pots on my patio.  However, when it's planting time for the veggies, it's all hands on deck. I don't mind getting dirty while I'm in the garden, but I do like to keep my hands looking nice.  We have a lot of clay in our soil, which dries out my hands like crazy. When I'm done gardening, I head inside to use a hand scrub for gardeners.  This is an easy Epsom salt scrub recipe that also has sugar in it to remove dirt while it soothes irritated skin and nourishes you

Learn how to make a birdhouse without wood.  This simple DIY birdhouse is easy to make with empty plastic butter tubs or something similar in size.  This adorable beehive birdhouse looks so cute hanging in a tree in your yard.  It's easy enough for kids to make with some help. We basically live in an animal sanctuary.  Our little farm is surrounded by commercial farms on three sides.  The fourth side is the road and was a field until a few years ago. The animals needed somewhere to go, so they live in a small wooded area that we have near the house or near our ponds.   I hang several bird feeders outside for the birds.  I put them outside of the living room windows, and we enjoy watching the birds.  The cats love watching them from the back of the couch too. I didn't really have many birdhouses, so I wanted to learn how to make a birdhouse out of recycled materials.  Since bees and beehives are popular this year, I decided to make a beehive birdhouse for my upcycled birdhouse.

How to make essential oil bug spray to repel bugs and other pests in your garden.  This natural homemade bug repellent for plants can be used indoors or outdoors.  It's easy to make, and you can just set it by your plants and spray as needed. There are few things more frustrating than spending time and money planting a garden only to have it destroyed by pests.  Not only do we have big pests like rabbits and deer, but we also have bugs and small pests to contend with. The deer pose a bigger challenge, but luckily bugs are easy to contend with.  Learn how to make essential oil bug spray to control bugs on your plants. This homemade bug spray for plants is an easy recipe from the June 2021 Simply Earth Essential Oil Box that I wanted to share with you.  I've been getting the box for a few years now, and I love the easy recipes.