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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Men's and women's silverware won by Middlesex CCC on Sunday, on display at Lord's today. The men's final at Trent Bridge was one of those days that make cricket worthwhile. Just about got my voice back now!

Metro Bank men's One Day Cup trophy, won by Middlesex in 2026.

Metro Bank Women's League 2 One Day Cup trophy, won by Middlesex in 2026.

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Lord's, self-styled Home of Cricket, asks me to complete a survey. One question asks if I've visited Lord's in the past 3 years, with a wide range of options including plenty not related to matches. One option NOT included is a County Championship match! Typical... @anniechave.bsky.social #cricket

Survey from Lord's - question asks if I've attended any of the following at Lord's in past 3 years. Wide range of cricket and non-cricket options (this is page 1 of 2) - but not included is a County Championship match!

Page 2 of options for answering question in Lord's survey as to whether I've attended Lord's in the past 3 years.

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Middle Middle Middle! (Men and women teams) 🏏

Middlesex CCC with the Metro Bank trophy

Middlesex players salute their supporters after winning the One Day Cup final

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Premier Inn, Carlisle - ominously reminiscent of The Shining 😬

Veey long hotel corridor, reminding me of the Overlook Hotel in Stanley Kubrick's film The Shining.

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Love the bird sculptures on the cloisters columns at Iona Abbey

Extract of a sculpture on a column in the cloisters at Iona Abbey - a duck on water, with flying duck in background.

Extract of a sculpture on a column in the cloisters at Iona Abbey - a waterfowl clutching a fish in its bill, and looking pretty pleased with itself!

Extract of a sculpture on a column in the cloisters at Iona Abbey - a bittern (?) hiding among tall plants.

Extract of a sculpture on a column in the cloisters of Iona Abbey - a heron takes off in flight.

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Spent today on the lovely island of Iona. In the graveyard by the abbey is the simple gravestone of John Smith, who when leader of the Labour Party died suddenly in 1994 aged just 56. Inevitably the question "what if...?" comes to mind.

Gravestone at Iona Abbey of John Smith, who died in 1994 aged 56 when leader of the Labour Party. Visitors have left small coloured stones on his gravestone as a tribute.

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

The harbour bay at Tobermory on the Isle of Mull at twilight. Very changeable weather, so enjoying the light while it lasts!

The harbour nay in Tobermory, Isle of Mull, at twilight.

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Middlesex v Kent @ Merchant Taylors school. MTS can feel an idyllic place to watch cricket on a sunny day; but the parched outfield is a far cry from the lushness of the Oval two days ago. A very difficult time for ground staff at club and school grounds. #cricket.

Middlesex playing Kent at Merchant Taylors school, August 2026. The trees surrounding the ground contrast with the parched outfield

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Had a look round the museum in the Oval pavilion yesterday, and particularly enjoyed seeing this ad for a Frank Zappa "Rock at the Oval" concert from 1972. One doesn't see this sort of exhibit in the Lord's museum!

"Rock at the Oval" advert for a Frank Zappa concert at the Oval in 1972. Seen in the Oval museum.

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Slumming it today at the Oval, Surrey v Notts. Good to have red ball cricket back.

The Oval, day 1 of Surrey v Notts, 20 August 2026.

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Compare with my visit on 10 June!

Wormsley cricket ground, 10 June 2026 - lush green outfield!

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Haven't seen queues like this for a county match at Lord's for some time. Of course, nobody's interested in the Metro One Day Cup.... #cricket #MIDvYOR

Queues outside Lord's for Middlesex v Yorkshire in the ODC, 2 August 2026.

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Off to Radlett to see Middlesex in the One Day Cup v Glamorgan. Short day, as Glam managed just 66. Nice to hear gallows humour from opposition supporters for a change!

Middlesex playing Glamorgan at Radlett cricket ground. Sunny day, parched surface, but with tall mature trees providing shade.

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Came across this little egret by the River Misbourne this evening

Little egret seen in the River Misbourne, Bucks.

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Australia doing the business v Windies, despite Deandra Dottin's best efforts. Very polite neutral crowd, with presumably a lot of India supporters not using their tickets

Australia v West Indies, Women's World Cup semi-final at the Oval

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Yes, SL looked dead and buried at one stage. We were sitting alongside a contingent of SL supporters who got very excited

Sri Lanka supporters celebrate their victory over New Zealand in the Women's T20 World Cup.

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

A good day out at the lovely Wormsley Cricket Ground to see my friend Andy playing for MCC v Hong Kong. Also in MCC's team were 8 names I'd never heard of, a former county pro...and the great Courtney Walsh! Doubtless for Courtney it fulfilled a lifetime dream to share the new ball with Andy...

Cricket match in progress at Wormsley in Bucks, with woods on a steep hill in the background.

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

Today's listening to mark the centenary of the birth of Miles Davis, and the passing yesterday of Sonny Rollins.

Album cover of Birth of the Cool by Miles Davis.

Cover of Four Classic Albums by Sonny Rollins.

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

A morning walk in my local woods. Merlin still failing to identify red kites, though.

Birds seen on a morning woodland walk in May, including great spotted woodpecker, buzzard, coot and tits.

Birds heard on a morning woodland walk in May, including blackcap, song thrush and wren.

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Opening day of the Blast, with a double header at Lord's for Middlesex Women & Men v Kent. A stonking win for the women, but the customary tame defeat for the men. Still, I'm not used to seeing stonking T20 wins by Middlesex! #cricket🏏

Opening day of the 2026 Vitality Blast competition: Middlesex v Kent at Lord's.

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

A sunny Easter Sunday at Lord's, though definitely a day for multiple layers #cricket🏏

Lord's cricket ground on a sunny morning, seen from the Warner Stand.

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Happy new year, Hester! I'm not aware of anything coming out of it. It looks as though it was organised primarily by Kingston Uni, and it was chaired by Prof Richard Wilson from there. I remember they showed clips of surviving film of the production, which I think is held in the RSC archives.

Cover of programme from a 2019 symposium on Peter Brook and Shakespeare, with a photo from the 1969 RSC production of A Midsummer's Night Dream.

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

The first gig I saw at Nettlebed Folk Club was the wonderful @johnspiers.co.uk and Peter Knight, and last night they were back for the club's 50th birthday celebrations with the Gigspanner Big Band. Quite the most brilliant, exhilarating night of music I've experienced for a long while.

The Gigspanner Big Band on stage at Nettlebed. Multi-instrumental folk band featuring here dobro, percussion, violin, banjo, guitar and melodeon.

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

I was on that march too. Here's a placard from that day that I enjoyed.

Placard from 2019 march calling for a second Brexit referendum: "Fromage, not Farage".

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

Clearly we are blessed with excellent charity bookshops in the Chilterns area. A shout out also for St Francis Hospice's Chapter Two bookshop in Chesham.

Window display of Chapter Two bookshop in Chesham, marking National Poetry Day.

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

I enjoyed Elif Shak's depiction of Victorian culture and society so much that I was inspired to reread AS Byatt's rich, complex The Children's Book, chronicling family life in artistic and bohemian society in the late C19th. #Books #Booksky

Cover of The Children's Book. Gold lettering on a deep blue background. Centrepiece is an elegant enamel brooch in the same colours, in the shape of a dragonfly.

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

A haunting, unforgettable novel to start the new year. #Books #BookSky

The cover of There are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak. A blue and white design drawn from the ancient Mesopotamian cultures central to the book, with the motif of a raindrop.

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 15/12/2024

@starcrossed2018.bsky.social I picked up a 1932 book about the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford - not a great read (lots of lists of plays and grandees), but knowing your penchant for all things R&J thought you might like to see these sketches for sets for the 1929 production.

Eight drawings for sets for the 1929 production of Romeo and Juliet at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. All the sets (whether street scenes, Juliet's chamber, Friar Laurence's cell or the Capulets' vault) are based around a central arch.

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

Always a red letter day when the latest edition arrives from @ccmatters.bsky.social. The empathetic interviews by @anniechave.bsky.social are always a highlight, this time with the great Courtney Walsh.

The cover of the Dec 2024 edition of County Cricket Matters - a dramatic picture of a double rainbow in a black sky above the cricket ground at Taunton, with the heading "Cricket's pots of gold".

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Here's a rather more extreme C18th look - Hamlet With His Mother by Nicholai Abildgaard, in the National Gallery of Denmark

Hamlet and his Mother, C18th picture from Denmark National Gallery. Hamlet in unflattering attire flaunting bare buttocks!

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 10/11/2024

It's not been a great week on many levels, but fortunately #Bellowhead and @thelongestjohns.bsky.social restored some joy this evening.

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Jon Foster @jonfoster.bsky.social · 05/11/2024

@anniechave.bsky.social Can never resist a charity bookstall, and struck gold today!

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