I've got a funny story about removing rocks. I grew up gardening in California adobe clay. No rocks. Having rocks in your garden was a sign of severe laziness. I did commercial landscaping and I made sure I picked out every single rock when preparing a lawn seed bed. Grass seed won't sprout on rocks after all, needs to be in contact with soil, and no one wants to step on a rock when they're running across the lawn in bare feet. So, every single rock came out, but that wasn't any work at all as there might only be half a dozen rocks in your average size lawn. Then I moved to Washington state. Recently glaciated soil. That means glacial till and outwash, and that means ROCKS. Lots of 'em. Gravel, cobble, boulder, hardpan. There's hardly any soil! I liken it to gardening in aquarium gravel. So I was preparing the lawn seed bed in my new house soon after moving here and before I had fully processed the differences in soil types. I raked, and I raked, and I raked, that seed bed, tossing out all the bigger rocks - never mind the gravel. I raked some more. And more. And more. I spent days raking up rocks. The season for seeding lawns was coming to a close and winter was heading my way. I kept raking. The rocks kept coming. Every drag of the rake turned up more. Did I mention we had an abandoned gravel pit on our property? Eventually, my then-husband, no gardener but more accustomed to the local soils, stuck his head out the door. "Honey, how long are you going to keep at that??? The rocks aren't going away!" He was right, and I had to admit defeat. Oh the shame! leaving a lawn seed bed FULL of rocks like that! I would have never left a seed bed like that back in California! but I had no choice here. Adapt, or die! Anyway, since these same gravelly and rocky soils produce some of the most and best timber in the world, you can see that there's nothing inherently wrong with rocks in the soil. Rocks decompose and release mineral nutrients, and the basic matrix of the soil itself. They provide mechanical stability and increase drainage. Although it is possible to have too much of a good thing - my soil here is described officially as 'excessively well drained'. You cannot keep it damp in summer. Water goes right through it. Oh how I wish for a bit of clay. Although it's nice in the winter when it rains for 60 days straight to have water draining right through your soil without stopping. But, rocks are bad for root crops, and seed won't sprout on rocks. That lawn always was kinda sparse because of all the rocks on the surface, and more every year. If you only have some, you can remove them as you go. If it's all you've got, well, you just kinda come to terms with it. I do have one little patch I've tried to dig out all the rocks for a veggie garden, I mean about 40 sq ft. Every time I go to plant something new, or till in more compost, I turn up more rocks. Root crops have to go into raised beds filled with imported, screened soil. Washington's famous potatoes and Walla Walla onions do not grow in glacial gravelly till, you can be sure of that. No, this is timber soil here. Yesterday I planted an artichoke in that little veggie plot. I would say the volume of the soil from the hole was about half rocks of various sizes. I removed I think one or two. Tossed them under the deck. There'd be no soil left if I removed them all. The roots will just grow around them. It does mean less water holding capacity - rocks won't hold water at normal pressures after all but there's nothing I can do about that.

Jane-- I don't know about Sweeby's DH, but I know for myself, I come in contact with lime containing products on a daily basis, and on a CONSTANT basis all day long. But I don't have a problem till I come out of the shower. Not only that, but with lime irritation, you'll usually show a rash of some kind, usually looking like a mild sunburn. In my case, there's nothing. it looks completely normal.

very interesting! in the center of the circle is that an iris? She didn't by any chance give you that plant did she? Because that would be even freakier. I have never seen circles except in mushrooms and they do often grow in circles. I am sure others do too with similar below ground systems. I do have a lot of ferns that just grow on their own here at this house, I think they may have been around at the original plantation that was here, our whole subdivision used to be a huge pecan orchard and plantation with tons of trees and plants.

The loan amount is public record. You can check at your county/city/town, etc. Loan info is always recorded(part of public record). The documents state the loan amt, the rate, the term (5/1 ARM, 30 Year fixed), the bank and lots of other stuff. If 2 loans, you see both. If the municipality has on-line records, this should be easy to find. Otherwise, you might need to go in-person to check the records.