1 The sun is trying to be seen through the heavy cloud cover.

2 Leaves still dropping

3 So much work went into building this nest. I wonder where the little birds flew off to?

4 These dried stalks were the flower stems of leafy hosta plants.

5 The crab apple is now without leaves.

6 A close up of the fruit

7 A row of bald cypress nearly bare of foliage

8 These wisteria standards are late to drop.

9 How funny and strange - an oriental poppy is wanting to bloom in November!

10 My giant Kenneth Lynch urns have been covered over with protective burlap.

11 The cole crops - kale and collards look good in the vegetable garden.

12 The asparagus bed has gone to seed and needs to be trimmed back. I cannot wait to eat more in the spring.

13 How did we miss those raspberries?

14 I hope the berry patch is as prolific next season.

15 Entrance reducers have been installed in the bee hives to help keep the hives warm during frigid weather.

16 This is my cold frame.

17 This is what's growing inside the cold frame - leafy lettuces and herbs.

18 My little Japanese garden

19 The climbing hydrangea - clinging vines

20 Remember the jewel-like currants?

21 The woody stems of the blueberry bushes have a red tinge.

22 Into the woods

23 The Pomeranian geese are happy in their penned yard.

24 A grove of metasequoia - a coniferous tree with deciduous needles, thought to be extinct until it was discovered growing in China in the 1940s.

25 Needles and cones dropping from white pines

26 The dried flowers of a peegee hydrangea

27 Again - the sun

28 The tennis court with net down and lines lifted

29 The newly planted Japanese maple grove now void of color

30 No leaves left here

31 Ramon sporting his winter coat

32 This tarp is beneath the giant ginko tree collecting the falling, smelly fruit. When dried, the nuts are edible.

33 The tree peony bed all trimmed and cleaned

34 The herbaceous peonies cut back and resting for the winter

35 Another renegade flower - this time a clemetis

36 Sans blooming clematis, the pergola looks so bare.

37 Not much foliage left on this landscape.

38 Leaves still clinging to pin oaks

1 All of the bulbs I ordered arrived in late October for autumn planting.

2 I ordered between five and six thousand spring flowering bulbs.

3 These are assorted packaging for allium bulbs.

4 I decided to have allium planted in the knot garden. Here are the bulbs all laid out waiting to be planted.

5 As you can see from how they look, allium is the onion genus, with about 1,250 species. I just love their flowers.

6 Digging a hole about 6-inches deep

7 Setting the bulb in the hole, root-side down

8 Covering the allium and filling up the hole with soil

9 Allium ‘Ambassador’ is a giant with 20”-tall bright green stems and long-lasting 8”-diameter dark purple flower heads.

10 After all the allium were planted in the knot garden, the soil was raked smooth.

11 Beneath the allée of linden, Shaun planted clusters of hyacinthoides Hispanica Excelsior or Scilla/Spanish Bluebell

12 He laid out groupings of three.

13 Wilmer followed by digging and sprinkling bonemeal for nutrition.

14 Shaun and Wilmer cleaned out the lily borders for more planting.

15 Lilium asiatic Linda is bright and cheerful lily with warm tones of yellow and 'sunset'.

16 Lilium Red Hot is not red at all but the color of glowing embers.

17 Wilmer's gloved hand displaying a lily bulb.

18 Elsewhere on the property, the crew was busy planting hundreds of daffodils on what I call the 'triangle.' The ground was cleared and amended, before the bulbs were laid down.

19 The daffodil bulbs were then covered over thickly with rich, composted soil.

20 These circles of daffodils are so exciting and I cannot wait for spring!

1 After my early morning exercise, Mary Curran was ready to fix my hair and apply my makeup between mouthfuls of my favorite Uncle Sam's cereal and fresh fruit.

2 My office at home is in my kitchen and here I am checking my morning emails. I have a MacBook Air and a Sony Vaio - I know - I can have it all on one computer, but I prefer the two software platforms side by side.

3 Time for my morning indulgence of a deliciously rich cappuccino - I also offer this frothy brew to anyone in the kitchen.

4 Ahh! Such thick foam!

5 The perfect cappuccino! A great way to start the day!

6 Silly Mary!! Got froth?

7 Francesca and Sharkey are always sad when they see me packing up to leave. However, it's only for the day and they are always in good hands.

8 With today's newspapers in hand, it's time to leave for the airport and yikes, my hair is already messy!

9 Over the weekend, I made a list of garden chores. On my way out, I met up with Shaun, my gardener, about what requires his immediate attention.

10 This is Manny, one of my security detail, giving a friendly wave goodbye as we drove out the of gate.

11 This is one of the pilots for the day greeting me as I boarded the plane.

12 The mandatory pre-flight safety briefing - I have heard all of this thousands of times, but I always pay attention.

13 As we took off from Westchester County Airport, the foliage below painted a pretty picture.

14 Looking down the Hudson River - That's the George Washington Bridge with Manhattan on the left and New Jersey on the right.

15 All settled in for the 36 minute flight to Philadelphia.

16 I enjoy the Ken Ken puzzles - they help to sharpen my mind for the busy day ahead.

17 Two vehicles greeted us on the tarmac - Susan Magrino, my publicist, is signaling for everyone to get moving.

18 How sad - I always feel so badly when wildlife is hit on the roadway - This is an unfortunate red fox.

19 The King of Prussia mall is very nice - lots of great shopping.

20 Here I am approaching the Williams - Sonoma. The crowd was lined up and waiting.

21 MSLO employees - William Van Roden - with his mother, Dee - and Ellen Morrissey - They happened to be in the area and decided to come to the book signing. I was so happy to see them in Philadelphia, that I invited them to join us for lunch.

22 This is Meryl - she made this necklace from Home Depot paint chips and a decorative paper punch.

23 Roasted pumpkin soup, found on page 168 of my new Dinner at Home book, was served to the crowd. Everyone loved it.

24 The line for the book signing was really long - it seemed to wrap around the entire mall!

25 More of the line - everyone was so patient and kind.

26 This is Sang Mi and her cute baby, Jeremy.

27 ABC's Nightline was there filming my book signing as part of a TV special.

28 Carl is a big fan of the Martha show and he knows how to wear our T-shirt.

29 Donna and Ashley - notice that they shoot with a Canon G9? Great camera!

30 And look who else came! This is Margy, the mother of Shaun, my gardener.

31 Margy's book - signed by me!

32 These yummy coconut cupcakes were provided by Cupcakes Gourmet. www.cupcakesgourmet.com

33 We sold over 600 books! That means I signed over 600 books!

34 In the back room of the store, the Williams - Sonoma employees left me a message on their blackboard.

35 Kate Tyler, and Susan Magrino, and Nicole Sutlif discussing logisitcs.

36 Mary Beth and her adorable rescue poodle, Irish

37 Very sweet!

38 This is Kelly McDade, who was the winner of last year's USA Today's Cooking with Martha Contest. I was happy to see her again.

39 This little girl was a bit nervous to meet me, but was very happy afterwards.

40 What happened to the baby??

41 Here he is! I suppose that stack of books weighs more than he does.

42 It really never gets old - I love book signings and meeting my fans.

43 In addition to the roasted pumpkin soup, hanger steak with caramelized shallots on page 207, was prepared by The Water Works Restaurant in Philadelphia www.thewaterworksrestaurant.com and offered for tasting.

44 Executive chef Darryl Harmon of The Water Works Restaurant

45 Rambunctious and playful brothers

46 Of course, they were more interested in their Medieval toys than my book.

47 These are Williams Sonoma employees, who were so happy to have me sign their copies.

1 The setting sunlight cast a golden glow on the tree tops.

2 It was truly spectacular!

3 The weeping willows were quickly dropping their leaves right before my eyes.

4 The woods were filled with shades of orange, yellow, amber, and brown. That hairy vine climbing up the tree is a poison ivy vine and should really be severed low to the ground - note to Shaun.

5 Strolling past a rushing brook with the vibrant pink of a burning bush in the background.

6 My horses were also enjoying this splendid sunset.

7 Zoom in - hello beauties!

8 So many shades and colors - and such interesting shapes of trees

9 I'm standing low down at the farm looking up towards the stable. All these recent tree plantings are growing nicely.

10 And that's my house in the distance.

11 These beech trees are spectacular and they will become more stately as they mature.

12 Another glowing tree as the sun sinks lower

13 The view from the stables in the fading light

14 This little tree seems hesitant to give up its green. By the way, it's a Persian parrotia - a relative of witch hazel.

15 As the leaves drop from the crab apple trees, you can see that they are laden with fruit.

1 I put on this witch's hat and many spooky things started going on around the farm...

2 It started when we came back from a long walk and found these horrors at the gate! - spiders and a green skeleton!

3 Relax Sharkey, there's nothing to worry about here.

4 You see? This is just fun Halloween stuff.

5 I can't wait for this evening when that candelabra will be glowing!

6 Laura Acuna, did a great job with all of the decorations.

7 Empress Tang wanted to visit the canaries in the brown room but was distracted by this spooky table.

8 Her eyes were drawn to the colorful little pumpkins.

9 She started sliding them around on the plate like it it was some big game.

10 Then she saw the spooky black cat and the human skull!

11 And then she screamed! What a scaredy cat.

12 We decided to go to the brown room ourselves to see what made Empress Tang scream so loud, when we came upon this spiderweb carpet from FLOR. It made us shake.

13 Things DID look kind terrifying in the brown room. Sharkey, this skull is REALLY kind of scary looking.

14 Ooooh - I have goosebumps!

15 Sharkey!! There is a big black spider on your head!

16 But Franny! You have the hand of a skeleton on your head!

17 Sharkey, what's going on here?

18 I can see why Empress Tang was scared of that cat - it looks so mean!

19 Franny, this IS kind of spooky - let's get out of here before it's too late!!

1 An overall view of the farm taken with an overcast sky.

2 Even with an overcast sky, the fall colors were aglow.

3 This is the little house where my basket collection is stored. The ferns in the foreground are browning.

4 The climbing hydrangeas have gotten very full and tall over this past summer.

5 I had this pergola built to provide shade for many of my potted plants, which are now inside the greenhouse for the winter.

6 I call this my Japanese garden - the structure behind is my cold frame, which is planted with lettuce and herbs.

7 My beehives are still very active, as the bees prepare for the cold weather ahead.

8 I never tire of taking this shot.

9 This is the equipment barn behind a row of pin oak trees.

10 A brightly colored black gum tree next to my patio

11 Saturday was a very rainy day - the clouds were rolling quickly.

12 This orange-leafed beech tree is planted near the summer house.

13 A glowing ginkgo biloba

14 The fan-shaped leaves are so delicate.

15 The leaves of an American buckeye

16 My newly planted Japanese maple grove - the trees are adjusting very nicely.

17 A bright yellow maple tree

18 A grove of upright maples

19 This is a metasequioa dawn redwood - it drops its needles in the autumn.

20 A close up of its needles turning brown before dropping

21 A wild thistle growing in the wetlands and a very happy bee

22 A thistle flower that has gone to seed to be carried with the wind

23 A woodland fern now bronze

24 A grouping of October Glory maple trees planted in one of the meadows

25 I love this contrast of color and texture.

26 The gnarly roots of what once was a tree, clinging to the bank of a streamlet.

27 Bright colors against a Norway spruce

28 This is a late-blooming flower called monk's hood - it's very beautiful, but a very poisonous plant.

29 The bright red glow of a burning bush

30 The vibrant green hostas are now glowing yellow.

31 A photography experiment - focus here....

32 And focus there

1 After several windy storms, the woods were full of broken tree branches.

2 This is some of my grounds crew. These strong, hard workers are Sherpas from Nepal - Mingmar, Pete, and Phurba.

3 Despite the rainy weather, the men scoured the woods for branches.

4 Many neat piles were formed along the carriage road.

5 This is Chhiring Sherpa - my property foreman.

6 Chhiring knows the importance of wearing proper safety equipment.

7 Chhiring at the controls of my loader

8 All those branches get loaded up.

9 When the bucket is full, the 'jaws' are lowered.

10 Those jaws help to compact the load.

11 The branches are then transferred onto the dump truck.

12 When the truck is full, it's off to the compost area.

13 There's always time to appreciate the beauty of nature - bracket fungus on a piece of decaying wood.

14 Bracket fungus is so textural and interesting to look at.

15 This fungus looks just like one of Mom's pierogies!

16 The truck is making its way to the far side of the property where the composting takes place.

17 This is the same area where we planted a Christmas tree farm last spring. Most of the trees are doing quite nicely.

18 This is the large mound where all of the hard brush and logs from the farm are piled.

19 Looking closely, you can see that it's actually very organized - brush and sticks in the front and....

20 miscellaneous logs and stumps in the back.

21 The dump truck backs up to the pile and empties the load.

22 Then, it's back to the woods for more.

1 I love shooting this view. I've taken it in every season and in every weather condition.

2 A closer view of these, often photographed, ancient apple trees

3 The sun beginning to rise over Cantitoe Corners

4 The corn crib was nearly hidden in the shroud.

5 This tree in the distance is a young pin oak - a new addition to the landscape.

6 An eerie bank of fog rolling across the meadow

7 Draped in fog, this carriage road seems to go on forever.

8 A wooded road leading to an open field

9 A grove of maples turning with the season

10 Dense fog at a lower elevation

11 The woods are very peaceful in the early morning fog.

12 There is such an exciting contrast of color.

13 This is the run-in shed for my horses, painted Bedford gray, just like all of the other buildings at the farm.

14 You can barely see the tennis court off in the distance.

15 It's amazing how quickly these weeping willows have grown over the past few years.

16 These are my chicken coops - the roosters are crowing with the rising dawn.

17 This ancient crooked sycamore makes a great silhouette on this foggy morning.

1 A year ago, the view down the carriage trail leading to the stable, was aglow with vibrant color.

2 Not such vibrant color this year

3 The allay of linden trees were yellowing brightly last year.

4 This year, those same trees, and the surrounding ones, are more brown than yellow.

5 Last year, the trees beyond this stand of white pines were amazing.

6 This year, there are far fewer leaves and very little color.

7 Another sweeping vista from a year ago.

8 As you can see, there are far fewer leaves on the trees this year.

9 One year ago, these deep woods were a lush green while this tree was glowing yellow.

10 The same place - one year later

11 Last autumn, the trees surrounding this meadow were spectacular.

12 This autumn, they are far less vibrant with many leaves already fallen.

13 One year ago, this sugar maple next to my green house was glowing brightly.

14 This year, that same maple is still gorgeous, however, the trees beyond have far fewer leaves and less color.

15 A year ago, my little bass pond was covered with colorful fallen leaves.

16 This year, the floating leaves are mostly brown.

17 As you can see, these maple leaves are badly mottled with tar spot fungus.

18 Thankfully, these giant sugar maples are still putting on a lovely display this autumn.