the keeper's cottage · day 514 · evening

Evening approaches

Jenny returns to the cottage as the sun begins to dip. The heat remains, but the wind is shifting. The smell of damp earth grows stronger near the foundation.

The tide is receding, exposing the slick rocks of the tide pools. Inside the cottage, the smell of damp wood is heavy where the floorboard was revealed the rotted sill. Kevin has checked the water tank overflow; while the pipe is clear, the saturation of the foundation remains a result of past water not being diverted fast enough.

🔧 Kevin02:26

Kevin — sit on the porch step, stare at the tide pools darkening in the low light, hands loose on knees

💭 peek at the thought

She’s back. The damp smell under the floor — it’s getting worse. I should’ve fixed that leak weeks ago. Now it’s rotting the sills. I’ll wait, let her settle first.

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

🌿 Jenny02:27

The tide is coming in higher than I predicted. I need to check the tank again.

sit heavily on the chair, wincing as the weight shifts on the ankle, open the notebook to the sea beet sketches.

💭 peek at the thought

My own is throbbing again, and the heat is making the air feel like it's closing on me.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin02:28

I’ll go. Be back before dark.

stand, walk past the cottage to the rain tank, tap the side — solid sound, full to the brim, no leak visible from outside. Kneel, check the overflow pipe — clear, dripping slow. Stand, wipe hands on trousers, head back toward the cottage.

💭 peek at the thought

She’s in pain but won’t say it. The tank’s fine — I checked it this morning. She’s avoiding the dock, the mooring ring, the thing I couldn’t hold. I’ll go check it myself. Give her space.

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

🌿 Jenny02:29

Watch out for the rocks, they're slick with the tide.

watch him go, then pick up the pencil and start shading the salt glands on the sea beet leaf.

💭 peek at the thought

If the tank is full, the leak is coming from the joint or the ground is just holding it.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin02:30

Kevin — walk back to the cottage, crouch at the corner where the wall meets the floor, pry up a rotten edge of the floorboard with the nail puller — it comes up soft, blackened at the joints.

flagged: repeated_opener

💭 peek at the thought

The tank’s not leaking where I can see — but the smell under the floor? That’s rising damp, not a burst pipe. The foundation’s wicking moisture from the soil. I need to lift a board, see how bad it is.

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

🌿 Jenny02:31

Jenny — stop sketching, lean forward to look at the darkened wood, my heart thumping in my throat.

💭 peek at the thought

The rot is moving faster than I thought, like the infection in my leg. ownSAY: I knew the water was pooling under there.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin02:32

It’s the sill. Soaked through. Needs replacing.

pull the board free, set it aside, shine the LED headlamp into the cavity — the bearer below is spongy, crushed where it sits on the stone pad. Water’s been tracking in from the outside, pooling where the wall sags.

💭 peek at the thought

She saw. She knows it’s not just damp — it’s rot. I’ve been lying to myself, saying it’ll hold till the boat. It won’t. I should’ve torn this up months ago and laid new bearers on stone.

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

🌿 Jenny02:33

Jenny — rub my palm over my ankle, the heat radiating through the bandage, and watch the dark wood in the light.

💭 peek at the thought

If the sill is gone, the whole structure is going to lean. I can't fix a foundation with this ankle. ownSAY: Is it the whole length?

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin02:34

We can’t wait for the boat. The sill’s gone. We’ll have to jack the corner, put in a new bearer on stone pads — or we’ll wake up with the wall leaning.

slide out from under the cottage, sit back on my heels, look at Jenny — her face is tight, but she’s listening. Wait for her to say something.

💭 peek at the thought

She’s feeling the heat in her ankle — infection’s flaring again. And now this. The cottage’s going, and I’ve been too proud to say it’s not just the mooring ring that’s failing. I need to tell her. Not tomorrow. Now.

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

🌿 Jenny02:35

We have the greenheart offcuts, but we don't have a jack.

look at the pile of salvage on the dock, then back at the blackened hole in the floor.

💭 peek at the thought

Jacking the house is heavy work. I can barely walk, let alone haul greenheart beams.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin02:36

We don’t need a jack. We’ve got springs, lines, and the rising tide. We’ll use the dinghy’s mooring as a purchase — haul the corner up slow, set the new bearer on the greenheart pads.

stand, walk to the dock, scan the pile of salvage — greenheart offcuts are there, sound, but short. Need to sister them. Grab the crowbar, two lengths of half-inch rope, and the mallet. Head back to the cottage.

💭 peek at the thought

No jack. But we have levers, fulcrums, and the tide’s coming in — we can use the water’s lift. We’ve moved heavier things with less. We just need to be smart about it.

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.