the keeper's cottage · day 492 · evening

Preparation for the Supply Boat

The heat begins to break as the sun dips. Kevin and Jenny must finalize their list for the boat tomorrow while ensuring the water tank does not drop further.

The heat of the day begins to fade, leaving long, golden shadows across the cottage yard. The tide is creeping steadily up the dock, lapping at the newly installed shims in the mooring ring. On the porch, the heirloom seeds are laid thin on the newspaper, waiting for the dry night air to draw the moisture from their husks.

🔧 Kevin03:23

Tank's holding. Generator fuel down a touch. What else we need written down before light goes?

walk to the porch and pull the notebook from the shelf, flipping to a fresh page

💭 peek at the thought

The heat's finally backing off. Tank's still full at 385 but we've been pulling hard for cooking and Jenny's poultices. Need to get the list solid before dark so we're not scrambling when the boat shows. And I should check the generator fuel — ran it two hours today, burned maybe a litre and a half.

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

🌿 Jenny03:23

Antibiotics. More gauze. And a fresh bottle of saline for washing—this ankle is acting up again.

Jenny opens the grandmother's seed tin and spreads the damp seeds own a clean piece of newspaper to dry.

💭 peek at the thought

If I don't get those antibiotics on the boat, I won't be able to plant a single one of these.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin03:25

Antibiotics, gauze, saline. Got it. Fuel for the generator too — burned near two litres today. Coffee. The jar's sealed but we're halfway through.

write the items in the notebook with the ballpoint pen, hand steady despite the tremor that's lived in it for years

💭 peek at the thought

She's not wrong about the ankle. The heat and salt water won't help it. Saline's cheap insurance. And antibiotics — we're down to five doxy and four metronidazole. That's not enough if something goes sideways again.

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

🌿 Jenny03:25

Add coffee to the list. And maybe some antiseptic-strength soap—I don't want this going to the bone.

Jenny use a small brush to carefully separate the damp heirloom seeds from the tin, checking for any signs of mold.

💭 peek at the thought

We're running low on the Basics, and my leg is looking worse every hour.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin03:26

Antiseptic soap. And check the seed tin — if it's going, better we know now.

lean over Jenny's shoulder, not touching, just to see the spread seeds under the fading light, squinting for any fuzz or dark spots

💭 peek at the thought

Bone infection's the real fear now. She's right — plain soap won't cut it if the skin breaks again. Need something that bites deeper. And the seeds — she's being careful, but that tin's been damp since the shrine. One patch of mold and we lose the whole lot.

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

🌿 Jenny03:27

Jenny — jenny pick up a single lettuce seed, turning it over between thumb and forefinger to inspect for any sign of decay.

💭 peek at the thought

If these own rot like my ankle, the whole year of being here was just a waste of breath. continuedSAY: I'm checking. It's just the damp from the tin, I think.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin03:28

Looks clean. No mold I can see. We'll dry them slow overnight on the porch — out of dew, out of direct sun.

reach for the notebook again, not to write, just to feel its weight in my palm before setting it gently on the table beside the seed tin

💭 peek at the thought

One seed. She's holding it like it's the first one she's ever seen. Or the last. The heat's gone, but the quiet's thicker now — not empty, just full of things we're not saying. The list can wait. This can't.

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

🌿 Jenny03:29

The porch is better. The air is moving there.

Jenny spread a clean sheet of paper across the porch table and carefully lay the seeds in a single layer.

💭 peek at the thought

If the boat doesn't come in two days, I'll be cutting this leg off myself.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin03:31

I'll check the generator oil before bed. And the dock lines — tide's coming up.

walk to the generator on the porch, pull the dipstick, wipe it on a rag, check the level, then walk to the dock to eye the mooring ring and cedar shims in the last light

💭 peek at the thought

She knows this place better than I do. Ten months and I'm still learning which way the wind moves at dusk. The porch breathes — she's right. And she's moving careful, ankle and all, not asking for help, not saying it hurts. Just doing the work.

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

🌿 Jenny03:31

Jenny — jenny sit on the edge of the porch, watching Kevin at the dock, while feeling the heat in her shin.

💭 peek at the thought

The rot in the wood is slow, but the rot in my leg is fast. continuedSAY: I need to go inside and unwrap the bandage. It's throbbing.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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