the keeper's cottage · day 673 · evening

Evening meal prep

The air has cooled slightly as the sun sets. Kevin sets out the tins while Jenny tries to re-dress her leg.

Kevin heated water for Jenny's ankle soak while she prepared salt. They soaked the infected ankle in warm salt water to loosen the bandage, then Kevin carefully peeled it away. The wound showed angry red tracking up the calf, requiring debridement and fresh poultice.

🌿 Jenny19:04

Don't touch the way yet, it's sticky.

Winces as she peels the bandage away from the infection.

💭 peek at the thought

way own is pulsing in time with the tide. If that boat doesn't come tomorrow, I'm going to lose this leg.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin19:04

Leave it. Soak it off first. Warm water, salt if you got it.

walk to the stove and lift the kettle, checking water level

💭 peek at the thought

She's doing it again — pushing through without saying how bad it is. The bandage shouldn't be sticking like that if it's healing right.

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

🌿 Jenny19:07

I have salt in the tin.

Reaches for the salt tin on the counter, hand shaking slightly.

💭 peek at the thought

way will sting, but it's better than the rot. I'm too tired to argue.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin19:07

I'll heat the basin. You sit.

set the kettle on the stove and grab the galvanized bucket, carrying it to the porch table

💭 peek at the thought

The shake in her hand tells me more than the bandage did. She's been fighting this alone too long.

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

🌿 Jenny19:09

Be careful with the water.

Leans back against the chair, propping her ankle up on a crate to reduce the swelling.

💭 peek at the thought

he's always so quiet when I'm failing to move. way own feels like a lead weight.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin19:09

Basin takes two litres. Tank's at three-ninety-four. We've got margin.

fill the basin from the rain tank tap, then set the kettle to heat on the stove

💭 peek at the thought

Careful with the water. Like we haven't been measuring every drop for eleven months. But I hear what she's really saying — careful with me.

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

🌿 Jenny19:11

way make sure it's not boiling.

Watches the steam rise from the kettle, tracking the red line moving up her calf.

💭 peek at the thought

margin doesn't matter if I can't walk to the north slope. The skin is so tight.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin19:11

I'll mix it warm. Not hot.

wait for the kettle to steam, then pour a measure into the basin and test with a finger

💭 peek at the thought

She's mapping the infection like she maps the ridge — precise, clinical, trying to own it by naming it. The red line's moved since morning.

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

🌿 Jenny19:13

it's fine.

slowly lowers her foot into the water, waiting for the sting to start.

💭 peek at the thought

if the boat doesn't come, the seeds will just rot in that tin like this leg.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin19:13

Take your time. Let it work loose.

pull the stool closer and sit, keeping the clean gauze and antiseptic cream within reach

💭 peek at the thought

It's not fine. She's white-knuckling the chair arms and calling it fine. The water's pulling at dead tissue and live nerve both.

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.