A Journal News reporter and photographer came to Van Cortlandt Manor yesterday and filed this report on Animals & Acrobats.

Cool stuff!

Ladies of Liberty: The Women who Shaped our Nation is the latest book by noted political correspondent and author Cokie Roberts. It's a companion volume to Founding Mothers, in which the author pays homage to the women whose patriotism and sacrifice helped create a new nation.

Much to HVBLogger's delight, the newly published book features Louise Livingston (1782-1860) on the front and back cover. Louise was the cosmopolitan and well-traveled widow of Edward Livingston. She and her daughter Coralie Livingston Barton used Montgomery Place, Historic Hudson Valley's Dutchess County jewel, as a summer home and remade its architecture and landscape over a forty-year period. They transformed the site into a handsome, self-sufficient estate.

(Cokie also writes about Rebecca Gratz, who has links with Washington Irving. He gets a couple of mentions, too.)

In 2007, Cokie Roberts worked with Kate Johnson, curator of Historic Hudson Valley, and Catalina Hannan, librarian of Historic Hudson Valley, on the project that would become Ladies of Liberty. The author offers warm thanks to both of them in her Acknowledgements. Bravo to Kate and Cat!

If you want to learn more about the book click here.

Don't know of Cokie Roberts? Oh, come on. Yes you do! Among other career highlights, she is a political commentator for ABC News and a senior news analyst for National Public Radio. From 1996 to 2002, she and Sam Donaldson co-anchored the weekly ABC interview program, This Week.

Frequent visitors to Historic Hudson Valley sites know the organization's museums of history are pretty cool, pretty historic, pretty educational, and just plain pretty, but there's a whole world out there who haven't visited yet. And while it's one thing for the folks at HHV to tout the value of a visit, it's quite another entirely to get a nod (several, in fact) from the style arbiters at Westchester Magazine.

The cover story of Westchester Mag's May issue, currently on newsstands, is entitled "56 Things every Westchesterite should do (at Least) Once." HVBlogger is proud to report that HHV stuff accounts for numbers 2, 6, 8, and 19 of those things. Not bad!

Number 2: "Read Washington Irving's Short Story"

Calling it "Westchester County's very own ghost story," writer Nancy L. Claus notes The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a must read - simply watching Johnny Depp's movie doesn't cut it. Bonus points, she says, if you visit Sunnyside, the Historic Hudson Valley homestead of Washington Irving. Indeed!

Number 6: "Visit the Rockefeller Home"

Ms. Claus calls Kykuit "spectacular indoors and out." With its six-story stone mansion, modern art and sculpture, and elaborate terraced gardens, a visit to Kykuit can make you feel pretty, well, Rockefeller-like. "Even if your great granddaddy didn't start Standard Oil, you can still experience a taste of the über-good life by visiting Kykuit," says Ms. Claus. Conveniently, Kykuit opens for the season on Saturday. More conveniently, you can book a timed tour in advance online.

Number 8: "Admire Chagall Windows (and a Matisse, too!)"

Being the HVBlogger, I tend to find myself telling people about the Union Church of Pocantico Hills. And I find myself enjoying it when they are delightfully surprised to hear it contains stained glass windows by modern masters Henry Matisse and Marc Chagall. Westchester Mag was duly impressed, hence the Number 8 spot.

Number 19: "Visit the Great Pumpkin(s)"

BlazeBlogger is a little miffed this 4,000-pumpkin extravaganza wasn't Number 1 (though it is featured in the cover photo montage, as you can see), but he's a bit singular in his focus. He should take some comfort in Ms. Claus' high praise, indeed, for The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze. "(M)an oh man, you're in for a treat this October...Wind your way along candlelit paths, while spooky music plays, and oooh and aaah over the cemetery of ghosts, the patch depicting dead musicians, even a replica of our very own Headless Horseman. Grab a kid (or your inner child, if you don't have one) and get crackin'! Reservations are necessary - and tickets sell out fast." She's not kidding about that. Blaze is an October thang, but watch this space for ticket info this summer.

The last week of Blaze was, as you may well imagine, a rather busy time for the folks at Historic Hudson Valley.

As you'll recall, Martha Stewart featured the event in a 12-minute segment on her Thursday show that included Michael Natiello carving with her in the studio. You can now view the entire show here.

Then, Martha came by on Sunday for a 7:30 tour, which she thoroughly enjoyed. She talks about it here on her blog.  

The New York Times featured Blaze on the cover of its Westchester/Connecticut/New Jersey etc. regional sections on Sunday.

The Weather Channel stopped by on Monday evening to do some live on location reporting at 8 and 9 p.m.

And, last but not least, Halloween was the scene for the FOURTH marriage proposal that took place at Van Cortlandt Manor via carved pumpkin. From what we can tell, the proposers' record is four for four. Keep that in mind for next year, lovebirds.

And yes, there's more to come on the Blaze Blog, including at least one more carver profile. Stay tuned.

Yes, The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze is a good thing. And now Martha Stewart will make sure the world knows it...or at least her very devoted fan base.

Tomorrow's Martha Stewart Show will feature a lengthy segment on Blaze and Celtic knot carving. First, you'll see footage from Blaze that the good folks at Martha shot last week on location. Then, our own Michael Natiello will be IN THE STUDIO carving Celtic knots with Martha.

I know, I know. It's really exciting and it's a great reward for all of those who have worked so hard to put Blaze together.

Want to see a preview on Martha's web site? Go here and click on Thursday, Oct. 25.

The show is syndicated nationally and airs in the tri-state area at 1 p.m. on NBC channel 4. It will be repeated at 8 p.m. on Friday on the Fine Living Network. If you can't view it live and don't have Tivo, don't despair. After the show airs, you'll be able to view it marthastewart.com.