Calvatia gigantea

I was out with my volunteer group this morning on the last of our current run of heritage walks, which was at Chawton House, one-time home of Edward Austen and hang-out of his sister, Jane. In Extras there's a picture of the back of the house and the view from one of the windows but, for me, the most exciting sight of the whole visit (and it was a really interesting morning) was this giant puffball! I've never seen one before and, as you can see from the other Extra photo, you couldn't miss it as it was huge. Edible too.

After our walk, much of which was in the rain, we had coffee and cake in the tea room and a whistle-stop guided tour of the house. Although I've been to Jane Austen's house, just up the road, I hadn't been to this one before and will have to go back soon to have a proper look at both.