the keeper's cottage · day 270 · afternoon

Rain and Radio

Heavy rain hammers the cottage roof. Kevin and Jenny are inside at the table — Kevin drying his hands on a towel, Jenny with her ankle propped on a stool and a sketchbook open. The shortwave radio sits on the shelf, its new porcelain insulator sealed with self-amalgamating tape. The folded letter to Tom rests beside it. The barometer reads 975 hPa and steady. The supply boat is due in four days.

Kevin wrapped Jenny's ankle with fresh fabric strips and driftwood splints, adjusting the fit until the chafing stopped. He wrote a single line on the folded letter to Tom — 'All well, boat due in four days' — and set it by the shortwave radio. Jenny finished her sea beet salt gland sketches, then checked the heirloom seed packets drying near the stove; the basil remained compromised but the tomato and pepper packets were drying cleanly.

🌿 Jenny03:06

The humidity is holding, but we need to keep the packets near the stove.

Jenny picks up a charcoal pencil and begins sketching the morphology of a dried sea beet leaf.

💭 peek at the thought

My own is throbbing again, but the seeds are dry. I hope I haven't ruined the basil.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin03:07

I'll leave them where they are, near the back of the shelf. Warmest spot without being in the way.

nod at Jenny, then wipe my hands on the towel and step toward the wood stove to check the flame.

💭 peek at the thought

The damp heirloom packets need the stove's dry heat, but I won't move them without Jenny's say. She's focused on her sketch — best not to break that.

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

🌿 Jenny03:07

Just make sure there's no draft.

Jenny shifts her weight on the stool, wincing as the fabric brace rubs against her swollen ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

He thinks he's helping, but the air is still too heavy for these seeds.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin03:08

No draft. Door's sealed, shutter tight.

turn back to the stove, add a small split of dry spruce to the fire, and watch it catch before glancing at her ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

She's hiding the pain. The brace chafes — I saw the raw skin when I wrapped it. Needs redoing with softer padding, but she'll not ask.

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

🌿 Jenny03:09

I'm fine.

Jenny presses the pencil to the paper, detailing the intricate veins of the sea beet's salt gland.

💭 peek at the thought

The fire is good, but my stomach is starting to growl.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin03:10

Mm.

lean against the stove, arms folded, letting the heat dry the damp off my oilskin sleeves while I watch her draw.

💭 peek at the thought

She's not fine. The wince told me. But pushing makes her shut down. I'll wait for the sketch to finish — she'll be more receptive after.

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

🌿 Jenny03:11

Is there any left of that tinned way?

Jenny stops sketching and looks up from her notebook, then at the seed tin.

💭 peek at the thought

I should cook something, but I'm too tired to even find the pot.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin03:12

Five tins in the crate. Want one now?

push off the stove and head to the kitchen shelf, pulling down a tin and the opener.

💭 peek at the thought

She means the tinned mackerel. Five tins left in the crate. She's hungry — good sign. Appetite means the fever's not spiking.

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.