the keeper's cottage · day 764 · midday

The Approaching Front

The sky darkens further as the first heavy drops of rain hit the dust. Jenny returns to the cottage with her data, while Kevin is busy securing the loose gear.

The steady rain continues to drum against the cottage roof, turning the island paths into slick clay tracks. Inside, the water tank has reached its 400-litre capacity, with the overflow pipe beginning to trickle steadily into the drainage trench. The tide is rising, submerging the lower rocks of the south beach and pushing against the dockings.

🔧 Kevin03:50

Tank's filling. You got the pH strips back dry?

split the remaining spruce trunk sections with the maul and stack them under the woodshed tarp

💭 peek at the thought

Rain's coming in harder than the barometer suggested. Need to get the rest of the spruce trunk split and stacked before the ground turns to soup. Jenny's moving slow — ankle's still bad.

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

🌿 Jenny03:53

Stable at 7.8. The strips are in the bag, dry enough.

Set the wet notebook on the kitchen table and sit heavily on the bench, unlacing the boot.

💭 peek at the thought

The northern pools are stable, but my ankle is throbbing with every step. I need to change that dressing.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin03:53

Good. Means the garden beds are holding. Take the weight off it.

bring the kettle to a boil on the wood stove and set out two tin mugs

💭 peek at the thought

7.8's high for tide pools. Salt intrusion's pushing up the slope faster than last season. She's favoring the ankle bad today — boot coming off tells me the swelling hasn't gone down.

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

🌿 Jenny03:55

I'm trying, Kevin.

Reach for the first aid kit and the bottle of saline, peeling the old bandage away from the ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

way thinks everything is as simple as a pH reading. The infection is still there under the skin.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin03:55

Let me. Water's hot.

pour steaming water from the kettle into the basin, add a handful of salt from the tin, and set it on the floor beside her boot

💭 peek at the thought

She's frustrated. Not with the ankle — with needing help. The bandage sticks; she's been leaving it on too long between changes. Salt water soaks would help more than dry gauze.

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

🌿 Jenny03:57

I can do it.

Dip the ankle into the salt water, wincing quietly as the heat hits the raw skin.

💭 peek at the thought

way wants to be useful, but I'm tired of being watched while I'm falling apart.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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