the keeper's cottage · day 915 · afternoon

Preparation for the Supply Boat

Kevin and Jenny sit on the porch as the tide begins to turn. The boat is due tomorrow at high tide, providing a critical two-hour window.

The air in the cottage is thick, weighted by the 32°C heat and the rising humidity. Kevin has spread the heirloom seeds thin on newspaper beneath the warm stove shelf, hoping the residual heat will stave off the damp rot. Jenny watches from the porch, her ankle throbbing in the heat as she tracks the tide recede from the garden wall.

🌿 Jenny14:24

I hope that boat is actually on time for once.

Lean back against the whitewashed wall and gently rub the swollen skin around the ankle brace.

💭 peek at the thought

I can't even put weight on this foot. The air is so thick I feel like I'm breathing soup.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin14:25

Captain sounded sober on 2182. Said two-hour window at high tide, weather permitting. Barometer's still falling but slow. Could hold.

sit on the porch step, mug warming hands, eyes on the water pulling back from the garden wall

💭 peek at the thought

She's saying it light but the tension's there. Tomorrow's the first real contact in months. If they miss the window, we wait another cycle — and the ankle, the garden, the engine, all of it keeps wearing thin.

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

🌿 Jenny14:27

The humidity never lets anything dry anyway. The seeds are just going to rot in the tin.

Wince through the pain and look out at the half-weeded garden behind the cottage.

💭 peek at the thought

If the boat doesn't come, I'll run out of antibiotics before the infection gets to the bone.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin14:27

Spread them on newspaper under the stove tonight. Heat'll pull the moisture. We'll sort viable from dead before the boat arrives.

set mug down, stand, stretch the stiffness from the Yanmar work, walk to the kitchen shelf and pull down the oilskin pouch

💭 peek at the thought

She's right about the humidity. Seeds we pulled from the crate — tomato, pepper, basil — they're sweating in the oilskin pouch on the stove shelf. If the boat comes, we offload wet stores. If it doesn't, we decide what to burn and what to risk.

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

🌿 Jenny14:28

Don't just dump them. They need to be spread thin, or the heat will trap the moisture underneath.

Watch him from the porch, leaning my weight onto my good leg.

💭 peek at the thought

He's trying. He's always trying to solve it with a process. But the stove is too dry; I can't risk scorching the embryos.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin14:28

Thin layers. Newspaper changed twice. I know.

untie the oilskin pouch, upend it onto the table — tomato, pepper, sea beet, basil packets — spread them single-thick on folded newspaper, slide the lot under the stove shelf where the warmth rises

💭 peek at the thought

She knows seed saving better than I do. Always has. I'm the one who builds things that hold; she's the one who keeps things alive.

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

🌿 Jenny14:30

I'll check the moisture levels in an hour. Just... leave them be until then.

Close eyes and take a slow breath, trying to ignore the throb in the ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

He's too fast. He's treating them like engine parts, not living things.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

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