the keeper's cottage · day 985 · dawn

Dawn radio watch and a garden raid

Kevin sits at the kitchen table in oilskins, binoculars and VHF to hand, holding the 0530 radio watch on 16 and 2182 while the barometer reads 980 hPa steady. Jenny is propped on the porch bench with her splinted ankle elevated on a cushion, a fresh sea-beet poultice steaming under gauze and the day's trimethoprim dose beside a mug of broth. Through the window Kevin sees a coconut crab the size of a dinner plate tearing at the shade-cloth anchors over the tomato rows, snapping the timber battens and dragging the cloth into the beds.

Kevin swung his hammer at the coconut crab's leg joint but missed cleanly, the crab's chitin deflecting the blow; Jenny's shout and hammer strike landed solidly on its carapace, driving it off the tomato stakes. The crab retreated into the garden beds, leaving the shade cloth torn at two anchor points but mostly intact. Kevin pinned the loose edge with his boot while Jenny resecured the battens with fresh timber strips.

🌿 Jenny09:18

Jenny, I need you to keep that poultice fresh - change it again at ten if the gauze stays dry. The crab's eating my shade cloth, so I need to get down there before it strips it bare. Radio check in thirty, okay?

Grab the VHF and step outside to confront the coconut crab while it's still accessible, then return to check on Jenny's condition and secure the garden area

💭 peek at the thought

The poultice is working but barely - trimethoprim needs to hit her bloodstream soon. That crab is destroying my garden setup, and I can't leave Jenny alone with that ankle if I'm gone more than ten minutes. The barometer's been falling since midnight - we're looking at a storm coming in fast.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin09:18

Copy that. Thirty minutes. Keep the VHF close.

Set binoculars and VHF on the table, pull the porch door shut behind me, and walk down the garden path toward the tomato rows where the crab's working the shade cloth.

💭 peek at the thought

The crab's already won two anchors. If I wait for the radio check it'll have the lot. Jenny's ankle holds — poultice is fresh, fever's down, she's got the trimethoprim and broth. I move now, the garden's still salvageable.

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

🌿 Jenny09:20

Hey! Get away from my garden you oversized pest!

Approach the tomato rows slowly, keeping hands visible and raised, then shout loudly to startle the coconut crab into retreating.

💭 peek at the thought

The crab's already made significant damage - I can see snapped battens and torn cloth fibers. If I can't scare it off, I'll need to retreat and radio for help, but that means leaving Jenny potentially alone with her infection progressing.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin09:20

Kevin — lengthen my stride, unhook the heavy claw hammer from my belt, and close the last ten metres fast — coming in from the crab's blind side, swinging wide to drive it off the anchor stakes before it pulls the last batten free.

💭 peek at the thought

She's on the porch bench, ankle splinted, cane beside her. She didn't walk down here. That shout came from the porch. The crab's claws snap a batten — timber cracks like a gunshot. Cloth tears. It drags the whole panel toward the beds.

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

🌿 Jenny09:22

Stay back, you mangy crustacean! This garden's under quarantine!

Strike the crab with the claw hammer on its carapace to startle it away from the anchor stakes, then quickly secure the remaining shade cloth battens with fresh timber strips.

💭 peek at the thought

The crab's still determined - it's got a piece of the shade cloth clenched in those massive claws. One good hit should scare it off, but I need to make sure it doesn't grab Jenny's poultice supplies while I'm down here.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin09:22

Clear the beds! Move!

Swing the hammer two-handed at the crab's front leg joint — not the shell, the joint — to drive it off the stake, then kick the loose batten clear and plant my boot on the shade cloth edge to pin it while the crab decides.

💭 peek at the thought

That's not Jenny shouting — she's on the porch. The voice is mine. The crab whips around, claws raised, carapace glossy wet in the dawn. One batten hangs by a splinter. The other three stakes still hold. I have the hammer. I have the angle.

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.