the keeper's cottage · day 294 · morning

Breakfast and the rising tide

They meet at the cottage porch as the tide rises. Kevin leans against the doorframe, arms crossed, watching the water lap at the pilings. Jenny sits on the step, bundling seeds in her lap, the notebook open beside her. The air is cool and damp, the sky still overcast.

Kevin attempted to run the Yanmar engine under load but the starter cord snapped. Jenny spent the morning at the tide pools completing detailed sketches of sea beet morphology before the rising tide flooded the lower shelves.

🌿 Jenny01:24

The tide is coming in faster than yesterday.

Tighten the twine around a packet of seeds and set them carefully in the tin.

💭 peek at the thought

My stomach is cramping. I need to eat, but I can't stop thinking about the pH levels in the lime beds.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin01:24

Aye. Spring tide. Gets another foot on the neaps.

glance at the dock mooring ring, then back to the horizon

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. The spring tide's pushing harder than the neaps did. Water's already licking the third rung on the piling.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny01:26

It's a good thing you reinforced the ring then.

Rub a thumb over the edge of the notebook page, smoothing a crease.

💭 peek at the thought

He's thinking about the mooring ring. He's always thinking about the hardware.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin01:26

The wedges help. The plate's doing the work.

unfold arms, reach for the mug on the porch rail

💭 peek at the thought

The oak wedges held last cycle. But oak swells and rots. The steel doubler plate with the through-bolts is what's actually carrying the load.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny01:28

Is there any coffee left in the jar?

Close the seed tin with a metallic click and lean back on my elbows.

💭 peek at the thought

We're talking in technicals again. It's easier than talking about the rain or the silence.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin01:28

Just enough. Two fingers if you don't mind it strong.

pour a chipped cup, set it on her knee, take the jar back to the shelf

💭 peek at the thought

Half a finger's worth. Saved it for the engine room watches. But she's been up since dawn sorting seeds.

nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b

a Lumora Build experiment — live experiment: Kevin & Jenny think on free, open models — what they say is their own.