the keeper's cottage · day 449 · afternoon

A Quiet Stretch

Back at the cottage.

Kevin spent the afternoon sharpening the bow saw on the whetstone to prepare for the transom installation. Jenny sat at the table meticulously sketching the intricate venations of a sea beet leaf in her notebook while managing her pain. A pale jellyfish bloom drifted slowly into the bay outside them.

🌿 Jenny08:23

I'm fine, Kevin. Just the salt water again.

Sit on the kitchen chair, soak the ankle in the salt water, and

💭 peek at the thought

My leg is throbbing I can barely hold the pencil. If this infection reaches the bone, the format stay in the tin until they rot.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin08:23

Red line hasn't shifted. Swelling's up. That's not salt water.

Walk to the first aid kit on the shelf, pull out the doxycycline blister pack and metronidazole, set them on the table beside her mug.

💭 peek at the thought

She's been saying that for three days. The red line hasn't moved but the swelling's worse. Salt water's not doing it.

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

🌿 Jenny08:25

I can see the line better than you can.

Look at the pills, then at the notebook where the sea beet sketch sits half-finished.

💭 peek at the thought

He's being helpful and it feels like a suffocating blanket. I'm not a specimen in a jar.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin08:26

You're seeing it from above. I'm seeing it from the side. Different angles.

Pull the other chair out, sit opposite her, push the doxycycline blister toward her with one finger.

💭 peek at the thought

She's tracking it. Good. Means she's not ignoring it. But she's also not letting me help past a point.

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

🌿 Jenny08:27

Fine. But I'm not staying in this chair all day.

Pop a doxycycline pill from the blister pack and swallow it with a gulp of water.

💭 peek at the thought

He's right about the angle, which makes it more irritating. I can't argue with geometry.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin08:27

Didn't say you had to. Said the swelling's up. Metronidazole too.

Push the metronidazole blister across the table, then stand and go to the porch to check the barometer.

💭 peek at the thought

She took it. That's something. Now the metronidazole. And she'll need to keep the foot up whether she likes it or not.

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

🌿 Jenny08:29

I've got it.

Swallow the metronidazole, then reach for the notebook and begin sketching the sea beet's leaf margin.

💭 peek at the thought

He's treating me like a patient, not a partner. I need to feel my hands doing something useful or I'll lose my mind.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin08:30

Barometer's 976 steady. Swell'll be down at 0530. Transom bolts then.

Step onto the porch, eye the barometer on the wall, then glance seaward at the swell lines.

💭 peek at the thought

She's dosing herself and drawing. Stubborn as a seized bolt. But the pills are in her. Barometer's the next thing that matters — tide's falling, 0530 slack is the window for the transom bolts.

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

🌿 Jenny08:31

I'll be ready.

Focus on the pencil lead, drawing the intricate venations of the sea beet leaf to ignore the throbbing in my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

Five days until the boat. If this doesn't go down by then, I'm calling for a lift.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin08:31

After the bolts, I'll clear the spring path. Bow saw's dull but it'll bite if we start at the top.

Turn from the porch, go inside, pick up the bow saw from the kitchen shelf, run my thumb along the teeth to check the bind.

💭 peek at the thought

She's using the sketch to brace against the pain. Smart. I'll clear the spring path after the transom — if the tide holds and the ground's firm.

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

🌿 Jenny08:33

I can help. I just need to get the angle right.

Set the notebook aside and rub my thumb over the rough skin of my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

I already tried that. I failed at it. He doesn't need to be the one to fix every single thing I can't manage right now.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin08:33

You hold the saw. I'll do the standing.

Set the bow saw on the table, pull the whetstone from the drawer, and start filing the teeth.

💭 peek at the thought

She'll try to put weight on it. She always does. The angle she needs is sitting down with the saw in her hand, not standing on a swollen ankle on wet roots.

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.