Midwinter calling, day 1

Day 131, November 3rd

Going green and roping in people

After breakfast, we accompany our guests down to the harbour. Jane gives Asbjörn a couple of sketches she's made of their time here as a memento of their stay. We stand and watch their ships sail away. Finally back to normal. No stressed construction or anything. Just my normal pressure on myself, and lots of projects. I have to make the most of days with good weather.

It's nice to just sit on my bedroom sofa and I stare out the window front of me. In this moment I don't have anything to worry about. Fewer people nearby. Quieter in the house. A somewhat freer feeling. I just lie down and look at the ceiling, close my eyes, and relax.

It havn't been long enough before someone come in, and I felt a body seductively lying on top of me. I recognise the body, breasts and smell and know it's Caecilia without opening my eyes, so I just hold her and keep on relaxing. It's obvious what she wants, because it was a while ago. At least it's entertaining that Caecilia is comfortable enough in my presence that she just lies like that on her Lord and the local dictator. After a few minutes, she just sigh and with a resigned voice says: "A whole week." Like it's the end of the world.

So I spend time with Caecilia. We start with a quickie, then just hugging her while taking a little nap, followed by more and wilder sex when she wakes me with it as the quickie was just to take the edge off, followed by more cuddling and holding on to her. Caecilia really seems to like lying in bed and being held against me, and I'm not complaining. If Caecilia continues to be a part of my life as I think she will, then the chances are high that my tombstone will say 'Death by Snu-Snu', and my sex bunny is probably the main cause.

Unless it's Kari.

Iselin will journey to try to find and buy her parents from slavery, and see if they want to move to the islands, but Iselin wants a few days with me before she leaves, and we still need time to prepare for her journey. A couple of simple aquascope will be built, and the crew will also arrange a 200m long sounding line, as it would be interesting to start collecting depth data as we sail around in the future. Sink speed vs forward speed is and issue, but can be slightly compensated for, and it does not have to be perfect if it's very deep, but some depth data is better than no data, and it's something to do. The ship already has a lead plummet and line, but it's just long enough to check that the ship doesn't run aground, and that it is shallow enough for the anchor to work, and to try to get a sense of how the bottom is. Is there sand in the lead weights bottom cavity? Sandy bottom. Did it clonk? Stone. There are several on the ship, as they tend to get lost or stuck from time to time. Like anchors.

It will probably take three weeks or more until Iselin is back, and she will be alone on the journey. Kari is needed here for the marriage preparations and someone needs to be in charge of the household, which is traditionally the wife and women, and apart from the fact that they're adamant that I shouldn't do it, I am also busy with loads of things. That the staff can manage most on their own is irrelevant, and I guess Kari wants an excuse to stay here. No-one thinks giving Ciara that responsibility and task is a good idea, and that includes Ciara. Ciara almost panicked at the mere question of accompanying Iselin and leaving me for so long and so far away, and that was before she remembered it's back to Jarl Steinnes region as well. Then I had to hold and comfort her. Neither Caecilia nor Jane will come along as company. Caecilia is suppose to be my personal maid, and Jane absolutely does not want to be on a ship and go on a long sea voyage if she doesn't have to - and it has nothing to do with sea monsters. So Iselin will journey 'alone'.

As Iselin is going back to Kambsnes-Dufansdalr region and further inland, I have a plan that she can try to teach someone how to collect nitrates, and will buy any yellow sulfur she happen to find. I have decided to hire a man to travel around and collect nitrates, and Iselin can be the one to teach him how to do it, as she knows what I am looking for. At the same time, there are more benefits to having an employee for various jobs when he eventually returns.

I send Hrappr around the island's people to ask if there is anyone who wants a job to do various work, which includes a lot of traveling, and that they must try to be independent and manage on their own. Those who wish can come the next morning and one will be selected. If no-one seems interested he will take a trip over to Lysesund and ask there.

A lot is present when we officially inaugurate the greenhouse. Sambos, guards, staff, Unn and Pedr. Most people have never seen a thermometer and obviously don't understand the celcius scale yet, but I explain my plan is to keep the temperature stable as a cool to a hot summer day between 18-30C in the summer half of the year, and autumn and spring day around 10-15C in the winter half. Lower temperature makes it grow slower, but it grows. Frost and ice are the main problem and should hopefully not be too big a problem here with the steam boiler room on the other side of the wall, even if the outside temperature is a few degrees below freezing. Extra insulation will help and the greenhouse will need protection from high temperatures as well, so we will install thin white curtains in the roof and on the sides to protect, and be extra insulation layers in the winter. The curtains will probably be used throughout the summer and there may be an external awning as well to keep sunlight from getting inside. In the winter, some plants will probably be under an additional layer of glass so they get more insulation but maximum light, and the walls and surfaces will be painted white. We will try to stick to large vessels and soil connected to the ground to stabilize the temperature in the soil even more. A clear advantage is that there is bedrock under the cover stones, and together with the basements stone wall, it will provide great thermal stability. It would be better if there was more daylight in the winter, but thermal mass helps to keep a stable temperature around the clock, both summer and winter, and here on the coast there should be more hours of sunshine than inland.

I can not do anything about the fact that some plants will simply get too little sunlight during winter. I can only do something about the temperature. I will certainly try to do a heat and light planter station with an oil lamp that reflects heat and light, but I don't think it is worth it, because it is the wrong energy and form of light, and no UV. Making some kind of high voltage fluorescent lamp with mercury, or mercury arc light might help, but I believe it has the wrong UV scale and is also very advanced and current draining. We simply have no choice than to grow the plants that can cope with less light, and choose winter plants that are more hardy, and always start planting them in late summer and autumn. There will be some plants growing in our vegetable garden during winter, but I have higher hopes in here. We're already keeping a logbook about the garden, so will of the greenhouse too. The next few years will be interesting.

I don't tell them yet, but I will try to make simple bimetallic switches so that a fan can start and ventilate out if it gets too hot, and another fan starts and pushes heat into the greenhouse from the steam boiler room if it gets too cold. Time factor, ie how long it will ventilate or heat etc are problems, but it will be interesting to play around with. Honestly, a gas thermometer with a larger pressure vessels can be more sensitive and work well enough for the temperature range needed, and then the needle can have direct contact with contacts that switch on a relay, that starts the fans, or perhaps work as a min-max temperature indicator, because two extra needles are enough for that, each just need a small bent arm on each side of the indicating needle which then moves them mechanically in each direction as long as it is with adequate friction. Seriously: If I can automate a simple climate control in the greenhouse? - I will. Air circulation also helps keep then plants healthy. There will probably be no steam radiator out here because the greenhouse is at the same height as the boiler room, which makes water recycling etc difficult to do well. There might be a high on the wall mounted radiator, but then it needs a fan, so I hope a fan using waste heat from the boiler will be enough.

A humidity meter, a hygrometer, is also on the list as it is simpler. The simplest I know of is just a metal spiral with paper on one side. However, the metal strip must be ridiculously thin and I think the paper needs to be salt soaked to work, but it's easy to try, and it is possible to make a bimetallic thermometer with a similar spiral if I can make thin enough metal strips. They make very pretty jewellery with fine thread, beads and similar, so that should be possible without too much hassle. Otherwise, a manometer like mechanical solution can be made with hair as the expanding element, which gives the name to classic hair hygrometers. The problem is to calibrate the meter. 100% is fairly easy, but 50% or 30%? The only thing I can try is to build it and see how far down the needle goes and gradually adjust the scale. If we get a clear cold winter day, I can catch the air in a barrel, and heat up the air, and the humidity will decrease even more. If I set the low point as 10% or something, then maybe I should be happy with that scale, even if it is 5-10% wrong. Because it will be wrong. And there might be a range, like the common electronic ones works between something like 20-90%. I also don't expect the scale to be linear. I kind of need to have very dry air and introduce moisture as steam until the air becomes saturated when its very cold, and try to measure and calculate the steps between. It will not be precise and tricky. And I expect temperature will affect it too.

Pedr will have the carpenters build some tables, and shelves we can hang on the basement wall so we use the height, and Unn will help to arrange the soil and plant some small fruit trees against the buildings south wall outside. Hrappr will attach thin ropes and together with the maids arrange white curtains of the extra material we bought for the pavilion's curtains. There are so many happy women here as they plant and plan, and there is a fairly lively discussion about what should be planted, how much and where it should be placed. Ida, who among other things lets out the hens in the morning and back into the evening, can also take care of the curtains as part of her chores, and the one who takes over her chores if she is away, will do this as well. Just write it down as part of the morning and evening routine. The guards promise to take a round past my workshop window in the evening and check that it is done as part of their regular patrol.

I use a simple hand pump and two manometers to test whether the brass gas cylinders are airtight. Pump the pressure up to a few bars, close and then leave them. If the pressure hasn't dropped in a couple of days, I can count on them being airtight enough for experiments. Then I will repeat the same with the iron gas cylinders. There might be flammable gas in these, but they will not be stored in a small space indoors, so some leakage is okay, just not appreciated. Another project I can cross of the list - for now. I'm a little curious if they in the future can be used for shorter dives, but I have to make a regulating nozzle and go much higher up in pressure to get enough duration to be worth it. Really unpleasantly high pressure. I'm not going for 200-300 bar, but 30-50 will be hard enough. Then there is the problem of pipes instead of flexible hoses.

Am I ever going to get och make some kind of flexible rubber material? Or just watertight and airtight flexible material?

I'm not in the mood to test the iron cannon, but I need to do it sooner or later. It's ready for testing, and I'm getting projectiles cast in cement to test shoot with.

Hrappr returns with the boat builder from Lysesund, and I put the work aside. I asked Hrappr to ask the boatbuilder to come to the island for a larger project, if he was interested and when it suited him. Sure, I understand that it's a mix of status and that I pay well in silver which makes people so willing to be of service, but it's still nice when they often drop everything to come quickly. I just need to avoid abusing it, or feel entitled to it. I have to make people understand that it's okay to say no to me or take their time. In this case, it seems to be the honor to actually receive an official invitation that got the boatbuilder here. Rumours have circulated about the islands.

However, I surprise because Boli has come along and present me with my new slaves I didn't know I owned. Klakki is 37 years old, Eymörd is 33 years old and Hafle is 21 years old and the son of Klakki. I thought everything with the Auction was settled and all payment would be made in silver, but this is not the case due to a 'misunderstanding'. They became my slaves as part of payment, but only became mine after their previous owner left Lysesund, which has now happened.

Yay.

Oh well. Accept reality, learn and move on. They can help with construction work and other things. I present my sambos, guards, etc, and all three are happy to swear a similar oath that Jalida and Elvira did, and then I free them. Klakki seems happier about his son's freedom than his own. They're sent with Hrappr to Pedr to see what they can help with.

I did not consider of all the visiting people who were still in Lysesund when we launched the fireworks, and many noticed the first bang that made them really see and hear the second and third go off, but it the whole thing has just made the islands and my sejd more mysterious.

The bridge connecting my two islands will soon be finished, so I want contact with Orusingen and partly use a ferry. Of course it is also an island, but does not feel that way due to its size and the fastest land travel here is by horse, and driving a modern car around the islands will still take a couple of hours, so a horse will be far far longer. It is not the most desirable place to visit, and I have no real reason to go there, but it is the largest landmass nearby that I can connect the islands to. The mainland would be far more desirable and useful, but it is not possible. It's about a kilometer across the water, and its like 15-20m deep water. Even using the big island in the north east as a halfway point, will mean about two 400m sections over deep open water. So Orusingen will be it for now. There will be a road and two smaller bridges there via the islands in between which are already mine, but the longest span is a problem, although it is less deep and just half the distance across the strait between the two Ackerek Islands where they are finishing a bridge. A road to Orusingen won't be as important or used as much.

In general, small rocky islands like the two between Orusingen and Ackerek don't have much value if a few sheep is all that can barely graze there, and it's not economical having a shepherd guarding just a few sheep. And leaving a few sheep unguarded on a rocky island might mean some bastard steals them during the night. But if there is a road and bridge there so those sheep can be removed and brought back, or just locked in during the night, then the risk is lowered.

The landowner on the other side where my ferry will dock does not mind me building a ferry pier there, especially as I offer to pay them to help build a road to connect the ferry to the road network that snakes from farm to farm across Orusingen. It's work that they can do this winter, and even if the trees for the road construction become mine, there are plenty of trees there and they get silver in their hand, which they value more. The forest is big and full of trees. They will start with a path, which they then widen to a wagon road. The rumours about my road on the island has of course spread, but it is no use doing a short stretch in stone when the rest of the roads on Orusingen are not. And the road probably won't see much use. It is also better to focus on making the roads on my islands impressive stone roads, as those will see far more use and it will be a more impressive appearance on people coming here.

Ackerek islands has not been important, and those who lived here have had to fend for themselves like everyone else in the archipelago, but now? Now the islands have become important and if I want to spend silver and manpower on connecting them together and with Orusingen, the residents in the area are not the least negative, especially not when the road makes it easier for them to use the area that the road pass through. When they eventually find out about the planned school for some of their children, they will probably appreciate me more.

In the future I might build a bridge over there as well. All three bridges together are less work than between the Ackerek islands, although the last and longest stretch is fairly deep. In retrospect, a simple rope ferry between my islands would have been a more cost and work effective idea than the bridge, but hindsight is easy, and it's nicer to be able to ride or take a carriage cross without using a ferry.

It will be a large catamaran rope/cable ferry, big enough that a couple of horses with a carriage can go on without problems. Just a catamaran with a deck, about the same design as the reaction/current ferry, but since this ferry will not use any current and will travel in the ropes direction, it will be a different design. The rope will make a few loops around a vertical capstan that will be used to move the ferry, and there will be metal guiding loops for the rope at each end of the ferry, and the rope will be attached to the rocks on each side of the water. A loud bronze bell at each anchorage makes it possible to call attention so that the ferryman - a slave or those who live close by - can go and do the work. I plan to give some free man the job with a salary and small house to live in and some animals or sheep that he can take care of and keep track of during the day. Basically combine shepherding with being the ferryman. It will be a small cost per year with increased land use, and I just want the option of easy transportation to Orusingen. Increased connections also lead to increased trade.

I want the boat builder to build two similar ships. The catamaran design with a large deck also makes it suitable as a test platform for a steam engine. There will be a lot of room on that flat surface, and it's easier to add a propeller shaft through the deck and no worries about a stuffing box as a watertight seal. So the second 'ferry' won't have a capstan, just a bit of the same railings along the sides.

The boat builder has heard about the project I have in Laxlanda, and he too sees a large market for more rope ferries - this is after all a huge archipelago with lots of islands and people living on them, and sometimes it is close between the islands. He will hire a couple of more people and we make a deal that I get 1/10 on future ferries or other ship designs from me that he builds, in exchange for me referring others to him and not any other boat builder in the area. It's quite likely that I will make my own shipyard in the future, as I will try to make more modern boats, but then I might hire him and his workers. He's done good work so far, but it will be interesting if he can handle something new and different.