the keeper's cottage · day 375 · morning

The first squall

You and Jenny retreat inside the cottage as the first heavy drops hit the tin roof. The wind howls through the radio mast wires.

Jenny attempts to clean Kevin's ankle with boiled water, but her hands shake from the tension of the approaching storm and exhaustion. Kevin holds his leg steady over the steaming bowl, flinching as the water hits the raw, inflamed skin. The wind begins to whistle through the cottage gaps, and the first heavy drops of rain strike the dust on the roof.

🌿 Jenny09:10

Put the kettle on. We need to boil the water before the storm fails.

Sit at the kitchen table, wrapping my ankle tightly, and watch the radio.

💭 peek at the thought

My ankle is throbbing in time with the wind, and the barometer is dropping too fast.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:11

On it. Radio's got the spare insulator now — should hold. But if the coax chafes at the mast bracket, we lose transmit. I'll tape the lead down after the water's boiling.

fill the kettle from the rain tank, set it on the wood stove, and throw in a handful of kindling and a split log to get the fire going fast

💭 peek at the thought

She's right — if the generator dies or the tank gets fouled by wind-driven salt, we'll need clean water. Kettle first, then secure the radio gear before the aerial takes a hit.

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

🌿 Jenny09:12

Check the garden-side tarp again. The wind is catching the edge of the plastic.

Sketch the way the clouds are bruising on the horizon to keep my hands from shaking.

💭 peek at the thought

If the radio goes, I'm truly alone here with this infection and the weeds.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:13

Already on the list. Timber strips and the mallet are by the porch door. Back in two minutes.

grab the mallet and the offcut timber strips from the porch, pull the hood up, and run out to the garden to batten down the loose tarp edge over the tomato rows

💭 peek at the thought

She's seen the tarp lifting — that leading edge on the tomato rows. If it peels now, the seedlings go with it. I'll batten it with the spare timber strips before the gusts hit full force.

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

🌿 Jenny09:14

Be careful! The ground is slick from the first rain!

Stand by the window, watching his silhouette against the grey sky while the water begins to whistle.

💭 peek at the thought

The wind is getting teeth, and I can hear the salt spray hitting the stone walls.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:15

Watching my footing. Won't be long.

move carefully across the slick grass to the tomato rows, testing each step, then crouch to batten the flapping tarp edge with timber strips and the mallet, driving the strips down hard over the fabric into the soil

💭 peek at the thought

She's not wrong — the clay turns to grease when wet. One slip on the slope and I'm off the garden wall. Slow steps, test each foot.

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

🌿 Jenny09:16

The water's boiling! Come in, the limpets are ready!

Move the pot of boiling limpets to the table and prepare the de-salting water for the wound.

💭 peek at the thought

He's going to catch a cold if he stays out there any longer in those gusts.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:16

Coming in.

walk back up the slope carefully, step onto the porch, knock mud off boots, and enter the cottage, heading straight for the table where the pot steams

💭 peek at the thought

Tarp's holding. Wind's rising but the strips are bedded. Time to get inside, eat, and check her ankle while the water's hot.

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

🌿 Jenny09:18

Sit. I need to clean that ankle before it gets any worse.

Pour the boiling water into a bowl and reach for the clean cloths in the first aid kit.

💭 peek at the thought

He looks exhausted. The wind is screaming through the eaves, but we're inside now.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:19

Go ahead.

sit at the table, roll up the trouser leg, and hold the ankle steady over the bowl while she works

💭 peek at the thought

Ankle's been angry for days — red, hot, the streaks creeping. She's steady with the cleaning. I'll hold still and let her work.

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

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