The decor is 'definitely eclectic,' Grogan says. It's also got perennials and roses that Grogan, the former editor-in-chief of Organic Gardening magazine, transplanted from their old house. In addition to the farmhouse, the new 19-acre homestead has a wood-frame cottage (now Grogan's writing place), a stone barn, two-car garage (originally built for hay wagons), a walk-in chicken coop, meadow, lots of deer, wetlands, swamps and a stream. The 'new' home in Coopersberg, Pa., is not far from the vinyl-sided suburban abode that the Grogans-John, Jenny, Patrick, 16, Connor, 15, Colleen, 11, Woodson, Gracie (an 'older and calmer Lab') and three new kittens-had outgrown. It's just starting to feel like our own house now.' 'We moved in two parts: We moved half the stuff before the book tour. He's just weeks back from the tour promoting his new book, 'The Longest Trip Home,' and finishing up the move into his family's renovated 1790 stone farmhouse. 'I'm surrounded by boxes and junk,' Grogan says, when he returns to the phone. (In case you've missed the hyper-marketing that rivals the famous Marley's intensity, the movie opens on Christmas Day.) Grogan adopted Woodson off the set of 'Marley & Me,' the film interpretation of Grogan's best-seller starring Jennifer Aniston as Grogan's wife, Jenny, Owen Wilson as the columnist/author and Woodson, of course, who had the task of playing a Labrador pup.

This is a new home his family has just moved into. To be kind, he could be marking territory.

For some reason, the 9-month-old, housebroken yellow Lab has run downstairs, having confused the basement for his own personal restroom. In this case, 'duty' is Woodson, the 'Marley & Me' author's newest four-legged family member. We're on hold while John Grogan runs down to the basement.

John grogan author