the keeper's cottage · day 77 · morning

Morning Day 78

The air in the kitchen is heavy with the smell of scorched woodsmoke and damp earth as the rain finally begins to taper.

Kevin successfully completes the final bleed of the Yanmar engine, ensuring it runs without air under load. Jenny checks the rat trap finding a fresh catch and spends the morning tending the heirloom seed trays.

🔧 Kevin08:34

Going to the dock. Test the sail rig, then bleed the Yanmar under load. Back by midday.

Walk to the kitchen cupboard, pull down a tin of corned beef, open it with the can opener, and eat cold with a fork while pulling on boots and oilskin jacket.

💭 peek at the thought

Good. The rain's easing. Means I can get the dinghy rig tested at the dock before the tide turns. First though — need calories.

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

🌿 Jenny08:37

Be careful with the bleed. If you get air in the line now, you'll be fighting it for hours.

Walk to the pantry and check the rat trap.

💭 peek at the thought

He's eating cold corned beef for breakfast. God, he has the stomach of a scavenger. I hope the wind holds for him, or he's just risking a swim.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin08:37

Won't rush it. Trap?

Pull the oilskin hood up, grab the crowbar and the new coil of rope from the porch, and head out the door toward the dock.

💭 peek at the thought

She's not wrong. Air in the line after a clean bleed is the last thing I need. Rat trap first — she's got it.

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

🌿 Jenny08:38

I'm checking it now.

Peer behind the pantry shelves to see if the trap has sprung.

💭 peek at the thought

He's always so brief. I wonder if he actually cares about the rat or if he's just checking a box.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin08:39

Kevin — walk down the path from the cottage to the dock, boots squelching on wet gravel. Reach the dock planks, step onto the dinghy, and run hands over the mast step, the sail luff, the reef points stitched last week.

💭 peek at the thought

Let her handle the rat. My job's the dock.

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

🌿 Jenny08:40

Jenny — reach into the dark gap behind the flour bins to inspect the rat trap.

💭 peek at the thought

Please be dead. Or at least caught. If it's still in there, it's going to find the seed potatoes next.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin08:40

Kevin — climb fully into the dinghy, locate the Yanmar's bleed screw on the fuel filter housing, crack it open with the 10mm spanner, and work the hand primer lever on the lift pump slow and steady, watching for bubble-free fuel.

💭 peek at the thought

Dinghy's floating clean. Mast step solid — epoxy doubler plate holding. Sail bent on proper, reef points tight. Oarlock bracket fast with the stainless backing plate. Now the engine.

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

🌿 Jenny08:42

Jenny — reset the trap with a fresh piece of corned beef fat and slide it deeper into the corner.

💭 peek at the thought

Empty. Dammit. It's smarter than I gave it credit for, or it just doesn't like the bait.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin08:42

Kevin — close the filter bleed screw, move to the injector line union nut on the Yanmar, loosen it just a crack, pump the primer until fuel flows solid without air, then retighten to 35Nm with the torque wrench.

💭 peek at the thought

Primer's firm now. Fuel's clear. Time to bleed the injector line.

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

🌿 Jenny08:44

Jenny — move to the seed trays and check the soil moisture with a finger.

💭 peek at the thought

Still nothing. It's mocking me. I need to focus on the seedlings before the damp settles back in.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

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