the keeper's cottage · day 979 · dawn

Morning radio work and spruce hauling

Kevin sits at the kitchen table with the spare coax cable stripped and a PL-259 connector in hand, the soldering iron heating beside him. Jenny is on the porch with her ankle propped on a crate, a magnifying glass in one hand and a fresh sea beet poultice in the other. The barometer reads 1013 hPa steady, tide is low, and the supply boat is expected at high tide tomorrow.

Kevin examined Jenny's ankle wound and found the infection boundary unchanged since dawn, with persistent heat under the sea beet poultice. Jenny confirmed the red line she marked hasn't expanded, and both agreed to continue the current treatment through midday.

🔧 Kevin02:44

Coffee's hot if you want a refill.

solder PL-259 connector onto stripped coax end

💭 peek at the thought

PL-259's the third one this week. Threads stripped on the last two — cheap batch from the supply boat two rotations back. If this one holds, shortwave's back on air before the boat window. If not, I'm down to jury-rigging the old coax with tape and prayer. Jenny's ankle heat line hasn't moved past her pen mark in twelve hours. That's something.

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

🌿 Jenny02:45

Come have a look at the ankle instead, love. Need you to read it properly.

Walk slowly across cottage to kitchen door, leaning on carved driftwood cane, magnifying glass still in hand.

💭 peek at the thought

The poultice is still working - no red line movement overnight. Good. But the infection hasn't improved either. Need to check if this is healing or just stable enough to buy time. Tomorrow's supply boat has antibiotics, but I need to be able to wait that long.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin02:46

Right. Kettle can wait.

set down soldering iron, wipe hands on rag, walk to porch

💭 peek at the thought

She's asking. Not telling. Means it's worse than she's letting on or she'd just wait for midday like always. The cane's new — she's been hiding the limp.

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

🌿 Jenny02:47

I marked the boundary this morning. Still the same red line.

Turn toward him, holding magnifying glass over the wrapped ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

His timing is too perfect - he always knows when I need help, even when I won't ask for it.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin02:48

Show me.

crouch beside crate, peel back gauze layers slow

💭 peek at the thought

Red line hasn't moved. Good. But she's holding the glass steady — hand's not shaking. Means the fever's down or she's past caring which it is. Need to unwrap slow. Smell tells more than sight.

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

🌿 Jenny02:49

The boundary's unchanged since dawn. Still hot underneath when I press the sea beet leaves against it.

Remove magnifying glass, set it on the crate beside the poultice ingredients.

💭 peek at the thought

He's being careful, methodical. Good. The skin looks inflamed but the red line hasn't spread past yesterday's mark. Still healing, just not getting better yet.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

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