the keeper's cottage · day 593 · midday

Midday meal and radio check

Kevin finishes the sleeve machining and wipes down the lathe. Jenny closes her notebook. The kettle sits on the stove, water heating for tea and a midday meal from tinned provisions. The shortwave radio crackles under the tarp, awaiting the noon check on 2182 for the supply boat.

Kevin finishes the Yanmar propeller sleeve and cleans the lathe while waiting for the boat. Jenny completes a detailed botanical study of the sea beet morphology while managing her ankle's pain.

🔧 Kevin15:56

Sleeve's done. Press-fit after we eat. Radio at noon.

wipe down lathe, set bronze sleeve on clean cloth, walk to stove, lift kettle for tea

💭 peek at the thought

Sleeve's within tolerance. Housing bore checks clean. Press-fit goes smooth if I don't rush it. Kettle's singing — food first, then the ram. Barometer's still rising. Boat's due tomorrow. One thing at a time.

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

🌿 Jenny15:59

Okay. I'll have the sketches ready by then.

Sit on the own, prop ankle on a pillow, open notebook to sketch the sea beet morphology.

💭 peek at the thought

The infection is holding, but the hunger is a dull ache. If the boat doesn't show tomorrow, I'll have to use the medevac forms.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin16:01

Kevin — pour hot water into two tin mugs, set one beside her notebook, open tinned mackerel for the meal

💭 peek at the thought

She's steady. Ankle propped, pencil moving. Good.

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

🌿 Jenny16:01

Thanks, Kevin.

Take a small bite of fish, keep the pencil tracing the veins of the sea beet leaf.

💭 peek at the thought

The mackerel smells strong, but I need the protein. I hope the boat actually has the antibiotics I need.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin16:02

Kevin — eat mackerel straight from tin, watch barometer needle hold steady at 1003

💭 peek at the thought

Quiet works. She draws, I eat, the radio waits. Normal.

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

🌿 Jenny16:03

It's quiet out there today.

Sip tea, watching the clouds gather over the salt-sprayed ridge.

💭 peek at the thought

The pressure is dropping again. If the boat doesn't come, the seas will make the dinghy impossible to launch anyway.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin16:04

Barometer's rising. They'll come.

finish mackerel, wipe fingers on rag, stand and stretch back

💭 peek at the thought

Clouds building southwest. Swell'll come up by evening. Boat's still due tomorrow.

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

🌿 Jenny16:05

I hope so.

Lean back against the stone wall, feeling the throbbing in my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

I hope he's right. I can't handle another week of this dressing turning yellow.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin16:06

Ankle still hot?

press back of hand to her forehead, check for fever

💭 peek at the thought

She's hurting more than she says. Antibiotics should've turned it by now. Might need to lance again if the heat doesn't break.

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

🌿 Jenny16:07

A little. But the medicine is helping.

Shift my leg away slightly, looking down at the sketch of the sea beet.

💭 peek at the thought

It feels like a fire under the skin, but I don't want to scare him yet.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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