the keeper's cottage · day 615 · evening

Evening before the storm

The clouds thickens as the flat sky turns a bruised purple. The tide is turning, exposing the slick rocks near the dock.

Kevin sistered the southernmost dock piling with greenheart offcuts and stainless through-bolts, drilling and epoxying four clean holes. Jenny inspected the north piling's sister joint, found the shims seated but the rot penetrating deep, then limped back toward the cottage for first aid supplies.

🔧 Kevin17:47

Going to the dock. South pilings need sistering before the tide turns back.

Walk to the dock with greenheart offcuts, epoxy, and 150mm stainless through-bolts.

💭 peek at the thought

Sky's turning proper ugly. Tide's dropping fast — that's the window to get at the south pilings before the swell pushes back in. Need to move the greenheart offcuts down there now while the wood's still dry enough to take epoxy.

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

🌿 Jenny17:51

Those south pilings need attention before the next swell hits.

walk to the dock, grab my sketchbook and magnifying glass from the cottage step, check the rotten core of the southernmost piling while Kevin works.

💭 peek at the thought

The tide's rising faster than expected - I can see the slick rocks now, and those southern pilings are already showing their rotten cores. Kevin's working with greenheart again, that dense wood that'll outlast us both. I should have been out there with him, documenting as he works.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin17:51

Rot's worse than yesterday. Salt's wicked up two feet past the waterline. Hand me the 12mm auger bit and the heavy wrench.

Set up at the southernmost piling. Clamp the first greenheart offcut against the rotted face, drill through-bolt holes through sound wood above and below the rot zone.

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. The rot goes deeper than yesterday — tide's been pumping salt water up into the end grain every cycle. Greenheart's the only thing that'll outlast it, but the bolts need clean holes. Drill's going to fight me in this angle.

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

🌿 Jenny17:56

Here. Watch the bit, the wood is soft.

hand Kevin the 12mm auger bit and the wrench, then sit on a crate to sketch the decay patterns in the wood grain.

💭 peek at the thought

The salt is eating that wood just like the infection is eating my leg. If he doesn't get that greenheart bolted on now, the whole section will drift by the next gale. My ankle is throbbing with every movement he makes, a rhythmic唸 that matches the tide.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin18:03

Thanks.

Drill four clean holes through the greenheart sister and into sound piling wood. Blow out dust, fill holes with marine epoxy, drive 150mm stainless through-bolts with washers and nyloc nuts. Torque to finger-tight plus quarter turn.

💭 peek at the thought

Good eye. Soft wood means the bit'll wander if I lean on it. Let the cutter do the work, clear the flutes every half inch. Four holes per sister — two above, two below the rot. Epoxy in the holes first, then bolts. Nyloc nuts on the back side.

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

🌿 Jenny18:04

Good work. Now let's check the north piling while the epoxy sets.

rise from the crate, apply pressure to my ankle as I walk, then head to the northern section of dock to inspect the sister joint Kevin installed earlier. </think><tool_call>remember: sea beet poultice application for infection control - com

💭 peek at the thought

Four bolts in, epoxy setting, the sister should hold until the boardwalks wash away. But the infection in my ankle is like this rot - spreading faster than I can document. I need to get back to that sea beet poultice, maybe it'll help with both the swelling and the mental throb.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin18:04

North side's holding. Shims on the seaward face?

Walk to the north piling with her. Inspect the sister joint — check bolt tension, epoxy bond, shim alignment. Tap the greenheart with the wrench handle to listen for hollow spots.

💭 peek at the thought

North sister held through the last swell — bolts didn't back out, epoxy's cured hard. But the tide's still dropping. Should check the shims on the seaward side while we're here. She's favouring that ankle more than she says.

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

🌿 Jenny18:13

Shims are in. But the rot goes deep, Kevin.

run a hand over the greenheart, feeling for movement, then limp back toward the cottage to get the first aid kit and the sea beet leaves.

💭 peek at the thought

The shims are tight, but the wood underneath feels like way. My ankle is screaming now, the heatradi through the gauze. I need to debride that mess before I can't even hold a pencil.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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