the keeper's cottage · day 470 · afternoon

Evening meal and shortwave watch

Kevin and Jenny sit at the cottage table with steaming mugs of limpet broth and corned beef fat. The shortwave radio rests on the shelf, its new insulator sealed with self-amalgamating tape. Outside, the rain has stopped and the barometer holds at 989 hPa. Kevin plans to key the mic on 2182 at 1800 and call Tom's frequency.

The evening settles heavy over the cottage, the overcast sky pressing down with the promise of coming rain. The barometer holds steady at 988 hPa, though the falling trend suggests a temporary reprieve. On the beach, the high tide has deposited a long, tangled line of driftwood and salt-crusted flotsam against the shore.

🌿 Jenny05:34

The barometer is holding for now. Don't let the tea get cold.

sketch the precise morphology of the mint leaves in the margin of the journal.

💭 peek at the thought

If the boat actually comes in four days, I can get proper antibiotics for this ankle before the rot gets to the bone.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:35

Tea's fine. Engine held clean at half throttle — no vibration through the tiller. Prop shaft true. Mast bracket solid.

sip from the tin mug, set it down careful, wipe grease from fingers on oilskin thigh

💭 peek at the thought

The broth's good — hot, salty, the fat slick on top. She's watching me over her mug. Knows what 1800 means. Knows I haven't keyed that mic in months. The barometer holding at 989 is something. Not rising, not falling. Just holding.

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

🌿 Jenny05:36

Good. We need the motor reliable for the boat.

check the gauze on the ankle for new redness.

💭 peek at the thought

He talks about the engine because it's the only thing that isn't decaying right now.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:37

Ankle holding?

lean back in the chair, mug cradled in both hands, watch her face not the bandage

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. Supply boat's due in four days, maybe less if they run ahead of weather. Dinghy's the only way to meet it if the sea's up. She's checking the ankle again — third time since breakfast. The red line hasn't moved past the pencil mark. That's something.

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

🌿 Jenny05:37

It's... stable. The mint helps the heat.

pull the edge of the bandage down slightly to inspect the infection line.

💭 peek at the thought

He's looking for the fever in my eyes, not the pus in the wound.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin05:39

Good.

reach across the table, brush the back of my fingers against her wrist — brief, rough, then pull back and drink deep from the mug

💭 peek at the thought

Stable's a good word. Better than spreading. The mint poultice was her call — old knowledge, grandmother's recipes. She trusts it more than the antibiotics. I trust her more than either.

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

🌿 Jenny05:39

Jenny — pull my wrist away slowly and return to the sketch of the mint leaf.

💭 peek at the thought

He can't even hold my hand for more than a second. He's terrified of the things he can't fix with a wrench.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin05:41

Kevin — stare into the mug, the fat swirling, thumb rubbing the tin rim — wait for the clock to crawl toward 1800

💭 peek at the thought

She didn't pull away hard. Just... slow. Like she's deciding. The sketch goes on. Mint leaf veins, serrated edge, the way the stem joins. She draws what she knows. What she can name and hold.

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.