the keeper's cottage · day 572 · morning

The Storm Deepens

The rain intensifies into a downpour as the wind begins to howl through the radio mast.

Kevin reinforced the porch shutter using cedar wedges to stop it from rattling in the rising wind. Jenny treated her ankle with saline and poultice while checking the seed tin for spreading mold.

🔧 Kevin12:09

Shutter on the porch side's moving. Going to pin it.

Grab the heavy wrench and the spare cedar wedges from the workshop shelf, pull the oilskin on, and head out onto the porch to brace the windward shutter before the gusts take it.

💭 peek at the thought

The wind's backing west-southwest and the pressure's still dropping. That's not the forecast track. The generator lashings are holding but the porch shutter's flexing on its hinges — need to check the south-facing one before the glass goes.

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

🌿 Jenny12:11

Watch the hinges, they're pulling loose!

Sit up on the bed, wincing as the ankle shifts, and hobble toward the way door to watch him fight the wind.

💭 peek at the thought

If he loses that shutter, the rain will get into the kitchen and ruin the dry wood I have left.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin12:12

Hinge's stripped. I'll sister it with the offcut from the shrub rack.

Wrench off the loose hinge plate, grab the greenheart offcut from the dock pile, and screw it hard into the stud behind the jamb to give the hinge fresh purchase, then reattach the plate with the long through-bolts I kept for the mast brack

💭 peek at the thought

The upper hinge screw's stripped out again — same as last week. If I don't back it with something solid now, the whole frame'll rack and the glass will go in the next lull.

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

🌿 Jenny12:13

way don't overtighten them, the wood is soft from the salt.

Lean against the doorframe, watching his hands with a hand pressed against the throbbing heat of my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

He's fixing the house while I'm rotting from the inside out with this infection.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin12:13

Fair point. Fender washers under the nuts, quarter-turn past snug.

Slip the three flat washers I have left over the through-bolts, seat the nuts with the wrench, and stop at a firm quarter-turn past contact — just enough to clamp the hinge plate without crushing the softened timber.

💭 peek at the thought

She's right — the salt's eaten the fibres deep. Crank them down and the heads'll just pull through. Need washers and a lighter hand.

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

🌿 Jenny12:15

It's holding. Get inside before the wind catches you.

Limp back to the kitchen, sitting heavily on the chair, and reaching for the saline bottle and the poultice.

💭 peek at the thought

At least the shutter is holding, but the barometer is still dropping and my leg feels like a fever dream.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin12:15

Right behind you. Radio sked in ten minutes.

Step back through the porch door, pull it shut against the driving rain, and cross to the radio shelf to power up the shortwave and set the frequency for the 1000 supply sked.

💭 peek at the thought

The shutter's fast. The hinge'll hold now. She's favouring the bad ankle again — the heat's still in it. I'll check the dressing when I get back in, but first the radio sked at 1000. If the supply boat's still coming, they'll call it in.

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

🌿 Jenny12:17

Make sure the antenna isn't rattling again.

Unroll the bandage from my

💭 peek at the thought

Ten minutes isn't enough time to debride this mess while the wind is screaming.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin12:17

Tape the clamp. Two minutes.

Tear off a length of self-amalgamating tape from the roll on the shelf, wrap it tight around the mast clamp where the aerial passes through to kill the vibration, then settle into the chair by the radio to wait for the 1000 sked.

💭 peek at the thought

The aerial's been chattering in the mast clamp since the insulator repair. If it fatigues the coax at the feed point we lose transmit. A wrap of self-amalgamating tape at the clamp jaw'll damp it.

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

🌿 Jenny12:19

Good for now.

Pour the saline over the swollen skin, wincing as the water hits the infection.

💭 peek at the thought

If that boat doesn't come in two days, I'm going to be a skeleton on this island.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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