the tide pools · day 813 · dawn

Morning heat and the receding tide

Kevin kneels in the dry sand, testing the moisture of the soil near the new shoring trench. Jenny sits on a driftwood log nearby, adjusting her ankle brace while watching the tide slow retreat from the kelp.

Kevin hauled two damp lime sacks from the shed to the windward porch side and spread them on the tarp, turning them hourly as planned. Jenny checked the water tank level and found it holding at 382 litres, then inspected the overflow channel and confirmed fresh weep marks along the northeast foundation. The jellyfish bloom drifted closer to the dock as the tide began to turn.

🌿 Jenny15:21

The pH is still too low for the seedlings, Kevin. We need more lime if the boat comes.

Picks up her charcoal pencil and way sketching the intricate structure of the octopus suckers she noticed on the rock shelf.

💭 peek at the thought

He's looking for hope in the dirt, but the salt isn't going to give up that easily.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin15:23

Logged. Two sacks minimum if Mendez shows. Got three bags staged in the shed but they're damp — might not spread clean.

stand up, brush sand from knees, walk toward the garden with notebook in hand

💭 peek at the thought

She's right about the pH. The untreated beds are sitting at 5.5-5.8 and the tomato seedlings are already showing salt stress on the lower leaves. If the supply boat comes tomorrow, I need to request at least two more sacks of crushed lime. The boat's been late four times in the last six runs though. Can't plan around it.

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

🌿 Jenny15:25

Then we dry them out on the porch first. I won't have grandmother's seeds rot because of poor storage.

Closes her sketchbook with a sharp snap and stands up slowly, wincing as the weight shifts off her bad ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

If the lime is damp, it'll clump and ruin the soil structure for the sea much.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin15:25

Porch gets full sun till noon. Spread the sacks on the tarp, turn them every hour. They'll be workable by afternoon.

fall in step beside her, matching the slower pace, one hand hovering near her elbow without touching

💭 peek at the thought

She's favouring the left side still. The black line tracked past her knee three days ago — antibiotics should've knocked it back by now. She won't say it's spreading. Won't let me look at it again after I debrided it the first time. Stubborn as a seized bolt.

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

🌿 Jenny15:27

Jenny — nods and starts toward the cottage, her gait slightly uneven on the packed earth.

💭 peek at the thought

He's trying to be helpful, but the humidity today is going to fight us anyway. continuedSAY: Good. I need to check the water tank first. If there's a leak, I can't wait for the boat.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin15:27

Want me to haul the lime sacks up from the shed while you get the tarp laid out?

walk beside her toward the cottage, scanning the roofline for any new gaps in the battening

💭 peek at the thought

The supply boat's due tomorrow at high tide. Barometer's falling — 1020 and dropping. If the wind backs west like the notebook says, we'll get surge before the boat can make the channel. Need to double-check the dinghy lines and the dock ring wedges before dark. She's walking like the ankle's stiff, not just sore. The metronidazole course finished yesterday. If the infection's tracking, we're out of options except the buried cache. And that means deciding whether to call Mendez on the radio for a medevac instead of supplies.

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

🌿 Jenny15:29

Yes. way make sure they don't touch the grass. I'm checking the tank level.

Steps into the cottage, the floorboards creaking under her weight as she heads for the kitchen.

💭 peek at the thought

If he touches the sacks, he'll probably tear them. The mud is slick today.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin15:29

I'll take the sacks to the windward side of the porch, away from the tank access. You check the overflow channel - I saw weep marks again this morning.

head for the shed, grab the two lime sacks and the tarp from the generator area, then walk around to the porch installation side

💭 peek at the thought

Tank's holding at 382 litres - still plenty for now. But she's already thinking about contamination from the grass contact. Good. Means she's not letting the ankle or the infection take over her work. Still need to verify the overflow seal before the rain gets heavier.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

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