Martha Stewart Loves Drones

— -- Martha Stewart is known for her expertise in all things home and hearth, but the lifestyle magnate is big on something new: drones.

Stewart, 72, explained her outlook in an essay that appeared July 29 on Time magazine’s website, writing that drones could be “a useful tool.”

For her birthday last year, the Katonah, New York, resident was given a drone fitted with a high-definition camera. She wrote that, after a quick introduction “to the mechanics of operating the contraption and a few words about its idiosyncrasies, I loaded the appropriate app on my iPad and went down to the beach. In just a few minutes I was hooked.”

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The TV personality revealed that she took numerous photos of her properties, including a shot of a vegetable garden that "looked very much like my Peter Rabbit marzipan embellished Easter cake, which was designed without the help of a drone."

Stewart wrote that she imagined many applications for the drone, adding that she “could not even begin to fathom even a fraction of the social, ethical, and political challenges the widespread use of drones would create.”

Stewart waxed enthusiastic about the topic in a May interview in Vanity Fair magazine, and she’s even written about drone photography on her blog, where she posted aerial photos of her farm and invited readers to comment.

“I’d love to know what you think about the photos, but also what you think about drones and the various ways they can be used in the future!” she wrote.

On July 10, Stewart tweeted to her 2.96 million followers: “interest in seeing photos of my home taken by drones crashed the servers. if u tried to comment and could not try now.”

On Wednesday her three-word tweet – “Drones are trending” – had been retweeted more than 800 times by the end of the day.

Drones have become the subject of debate recently as more individuals and groups signal their desire to use the devices for commercial, academic and other purposes. Online retail giant Amazon.com has said it wants to make deliveries by drone.

The Federal Aviation Administration bans the unauthorized commercial use of drones because of safety concerns. Drone operations "not for hobby or recreation" are authorized "on a case-by-case basis,” according to the FAA.