I am surprised when I see a ship similar to the Eagle lying in the harbour, but it is a little bigger, and higher both front and back, and the hull is different. The planks lie against each other instead of overlapping as they do on Longships, Knarrs, Cogs and the Eagle. I feel stupid when I get museum flashbacks and realise that is called a caravel ship regardless of the design, as the name is from the construction method. I shouldn't be surprised that the shipbuilders here used a technique they were used to, but it must have made the design more complicated. All the larger ships I know of later in history were not built like Longships and Knarr with overlapping planks, but had flat hulls with planks butting against each other. It must be for good reasons, and I suppose a larger ship needs to be stiffer and stronger when loads from sails and waves are spread out over a larger hull. A box where everything is properly attached and secured to each other will do better. So the Eagle is probably about as big as the design should be, although there were 30-35m Longships. If I'm going to build much larger ships, it should be with caravel technology. But then I need to get hold of shipbuilders who can do it. Urgh! Now I am annoyed since I shouldn't call the Eagle a caravel. The Eagle is probably a Frankenstein ship. I should also design better more modern anchors that take up less space and is better for different sea bottom condition, and make sure the Eagle has a few extra anchors.

Well, it is as it is. So I take the opportunity to discreetly take several pictures.

The jeweller is happy to see me, and I ask if he has received my order, which he confirms, again promising to always fulfill all orders from me. With the distinct sketches etc, there was no doubt that it was an order from me. He tells us that the silver balls were problematic, but he is proud to have succeeded and shows them lying in a wooden box on top of cloth. Silver quality is what I wanted, and the smaller ones weigh about 1.3 ounces each, and the larger ones 1.8 ounces, even if I have to pay a little more because of work, that's to be expected. The three plugs are also finished.

Not unexpectedly, a lot of gold and silver changes hands, where I get silver balls, plugs, gold necklaces with precious stones, and he gets pure gold and silver from me. I'm spending too much silver on things like these, but I'm rich, and they are after all worth their weight in silver anyway. I tell him that my sambos will show up, but he has to keep this job a secret and that I wasn't here. He just nods and smiles.

Alith gives me suspicious looks and before we go out she discreetly asks if the silver balls are some kind of sex thing. She had probably already figured out who made Ciara's 'jewel', as well as she saw the three new ones, and of course she has a hard time figuring out what else it could be for. I did informed her about allergies and what metals are good for, and have several times said that I only see silver as useful as jewellery or payment. Silver is fairly useless for anything else although it is a good electrical conductor and can be used for mirrors or in some chemistry, but that doesn't apply to the silver balls. So I confirms yes, they are a sex thing and if she is nice and keep quiet about it, even to Ciara, she can try when they're done. Someone has to be the one to test if my idea works, and Alith gets a smile when say she will sacrifice herself to make sure it is safe.

It's kind of amusing and very nice how Alith changes her posture and manner if it's just the two of us alone, like when we were hunting and as soon as we left the others she was my friend who used Robert, to when we have others around and Alith is more proper with different posture, positioning and addressing me with Lord.

Digraldi is very happy to see me. He congratulates and thanks for the wedding invitation and promises he will be there, like everyone else he has heard the rumours about the mansion. I update him that my ship the Eagle will be in the harbour at the Merchant Empire and leave Borgarsandr very early two days before, so coming the night before is a good idea if he wants to use the boat, which he is happy to do.

We change the subject and talk about my cannon. It was one of the hardest and heaviest projects he's done, and they seem proud of it, thanking for the sketches that helped them avoid mistakes. The cannon is bigger, heavier and much more expensive than I thought. Bronze is heavy, most of it is copper, and this is like 5-6 man weights of it. Oops. Kind of obvious that I made some mistake in my calculations. It will be difficult to move and lift, but I have planned to have the cannon on wheels. Hopefully the cannon should hold up well and I hope there aren't any internal cavities, but I also don't intend to shoot with a powder charge of 40-50% of the cannon balls weight.

Digraldi shows me the rest he has done in the last few weeks, and as expected, the craftsmanship is just as good as I hoped it would be. Some of the parts for the future eccentric press are also large and heavy, but I have expected that since they need to be. I would have rather made them in iron, but iron casting is not done here and it would not have been cheaper. Ironically they mine copper and several other metals as tin, lead and so on, but at least here, most iron is bog iron and collected. Thick heavy bronze is better than wood when it comes to stability and precision, and it is just good that a flywheel have a higher density, since mass in motion is the purpose. The tools themselves will be made of hardened steel, but bigger tools might be bronze with iron inserts.

The electric motors housings might work well, and so might their bearings, but as expected there are a lot of fine work I have to do by hand. The actual parts for the magnets, and the rotors that will be an electromagnet have been made in iron according to sketches. Digraldi does not usually work in iron, but he can work in it. I have no idea how strong the motors will be, or power they will draw, which is a reason there are two different sizes. A small 5 cm diameter I hope can drive a fan or something small, and a larger 15 cm and more powerful one we'll see what it works for. A lot also depends on how thick copper wire I wind the rotor with and in what way.

Digraldi says he'll load his wagon and send it to my ship, and grins when he says he's ordered a new cargo wagon, the same model I made with fold-down seats on the sides and a simpler tent roof and sides. I say that the drum brakes work well, but we are still testing wear and which ones work best in all weather and time of year. However, it is a good idea to order more parts, for many more carts, so I do. The prototype works well, and it's time to equip the remaining wagons and carriages with it. Then I take out more sketches and order other things like the winches for the timber wagons. These won't be as oversized as the winch was on the ship, but powerful enough and more geared. A big heavy winch is not a good idea since it will be on a heavy loaded wagon pulled by animals, and the wagon won't have a real free-lifting crane and the winch is for pulling up logs via a ramp. This is followed by the drawings for propeller parts, shafts, gears, modified drum brakes and a few other things. I'm going to pick up my small steam boiler, and in the future I'm going to get a suitable boat, so I need to finish the rest before then.

I can buy more lead ingots from him, and also more tin for soldering and table top miniatures, plus copper and other stuff. I've got a decent workshop now, so I will be doing more metal work.

Wagon maker Obaeinn greets me warmly. Business is going great! He's happy to pay my part of the deal, because I've got so many rich and powerful interested. The Royal Family, Councilor Efi, Jarl Skiringe, Jarl Naeswulf and Storman Maurr. He have a queue! Obaeinn and his apprentice Erlindr are not enough, so he has hired two men to help. Craftsmen have also started asking for the wagons. My cargo wagon is finished, and they are proud to show it and the six extra wheels I will have for cannons. But I've ordered extra wheels before so they don't even ask, they were just a little worried that any existing wheels have broken.

So I order two more cargo wagons as I want one in Laxlanda and one here in Borgarsandr, a timber wagon and another covered 'winter carriage' in a new style. Jane has sketched quite a few carriages, but I will introduce them a bit later. The new carriage is a little bigger and more luxurious and with a better turning mechanism, and it will be possible to change the bed to sleep in it pretty much as the summer carriage. It could be useful if someone is sick or wounded. The timber wagon is interesting because it is longer and will have to handle a lot of weight and load, so the wagon is much stronger and has double the wheels in the back, and they are stronger and wider too, as well as matching stronger suspension. The timber wagon also has fold-out support legs and a couple of too chests below the bed, plus ramps. We'll see how well they can do it, and how good the timber wagon will be. The timber wagon is more of an experiment, so we'll see. I don't have to worry about ordering an ice wagon until later this winter.

My stand alone steam boiler is finished and the blacksmith will deliver it to the Eagle. It will be fun to see how good it is, and how well it can withstand pressure. The last one he made that is used to heat the mansion works well, but it runs on really low pressure. This need to work at higher, and has received reinforcement rings etc, but is also physically much smaller because I intended to try it on a boat. I already have the parts for three more steam engines, two 6cm and one 10cm, and I will try to use a 6 cm for this one, simply because the power is probably sufficient, and the boiler is smaller, so I need to use less steam.

Again, the work is good enough that I order another house heating steam boiler, but with some improvements we discuss, because the Academy will need a steam boiler and that steam boiler will need to heat a very larger volume. Honestly, we might have to use two, and the Academy will be prepared for that.

Ah, anchors! I quickly sketch two more modern types, where one is the kind with two teeth that move and bury in softer bottom, and other that is hook-shaped with a spade and arc out on the sides to get it to rotate and position correctly. Checking bottom condition, choosing the right anchor and learning its good and bad sides and how to best use it, is something for the crew to do.

The window maker greet us well, which I understand as I am his best customer ever, and he promises to send what he has made to my ship during the day. A couple of days ago, he delivered windows to my constructions in Laxlanda. In addition to all the windows for the B-mansion, and all skylight windows for the workshops, I take the opportunity to order some larger glass panes as well, as it is sometimes more practical for some work. I also place an order for the first 50 windows for the Academy, of which 10 are specially reinforced with iron bars. When I ask if he received an order from Jarl Skiringe for similar reinforced windows, the window maker just smiles and says he is waiting for them to be picked up. I give him a heads up that there will also be orders from King Aeriksson in the future. It would have been difficult to get any agreement deal on special windows now, but considering the huge discount I'm getting? I'm happy. The window maker has definitely realised that the market for windows can increase, as in addition to what I buy, I push others to install and buy. Next spring or summer I should let him visit the islands to see how all the glass has been used, because he is definitely curious and have heard rumours.

The Academy will require doors as well, so we visit the same blacksmith as last time, and I order four security doors, of which one is a really nice double door for the main entrance. We will visit carpenters to place an order for thirty regular doors for the Academy. From various carpenters we place several large orders for furniture for the school such as tables, chairs, benches, beds, bunk beds and shelves. Some furniture will be simpler, some more ornate, and many are of a different design than what is normal here. It is so much that I have spread it out to several separate artisans with their own apprentices, who are not unexpectedly very happy. I say that I need everything ready in three months at the beginning of spring, but will collect and pay later when I visit here. They can also deliver to my Merchant Empire.

Potter Ruskva has done a really good job, and she is so terribly relieved. My works is always so strange. Her daughter Svala seems extra proud of my praise, and Ruskva confirms that she did a lot of the work. It's actually kind of funny that, just like the jeweller and Digraldi, they didn't question that the orders really came from me, because it's the same kind of sketches and drawings of strange things they don't understand the use of. I am the only customer she's ever had that orders strange things like these. It's quite funny how Ruskva and her daughter have put in a lot of effort, just because it was me, and ensure I know that all jobs from me will be accepted. They don't seem to understand any of the more 'personal' things they designed and made, but it disappears in everything else I've ordered.

Both the electrical plugs and contacts are earthenware molded in two parts, which will clamp blade contacts and are screwed together with screws and nuts. The 'large' one is good enough and has such useful niceties as a wider blade contact to be zero, and the contact cannot be reversed due to it. It's mostly DC systems and often LEDs, so that was important, but there are ground connectors on the side, so in the future that might be changed. The socket will be screwed onto the outside of walls, but the hole for the plug is slightly recessed so that it is hard or not possible to access the live blade when the plug is inserted. The plug and socket are, for easily explained reasons, very reminiscent of an older hard plastic earthed 230V electrical connector in Swedish households, but with blade contacts. In the future I hope to be able to punch out things like blade contacts to mass produce it, and it's easier to make flat things that work well than round ones. The small connector would probably have worked well electrically for most of my electrical use, but is primarily intended for low power and has four blade contacts plus 'screen', and is inspired by a DIN connector but with flat pins. I tell Ruskva to manufacture three times as many more, and significantly more insulators of several types, they have no idea what I will use all those things for, but are happy for the work. I'll probably also give Ruskva an invitation to the island sometime next year.

Even after taking into account the clay shrinkage, the parts of the electric motor do not fit completely on the electric motor shaft, but I have expected that. In the future, I will probably be able to provide ready-made templates that can be modeled after.

The fact that I only order strange things is proven even more by the fact that I order many more updated sinks with drain plugs, drain pipe segments and bidets. I will need more crucibles with lids for steel so I will order 50 of those too, because they will be used sooner or later, and once I start making machines it will go quickly because one is used up for each melting. I might eventually sell it, so I have them add a small Academy logo at the bottom of 40 of the crucibles. The logo is symmetrical, so she doesn't have to think about making it mirrored. The last thing I order is more brake pads for drum brakes. She did a great job on them, and I want more. They wear, but it's manageable. I just want a good stock when I need to change.

The glazier greets me warmly and is eager to show me the updated oven. My points about how the oven and door could be improved for limited reheat works really well even though it takes more coal. He has already made deck prisms for my ships and delivered them to Ovdhon for installation, and he has supplied glass for my 'current ferry' in Laxlanda. I order some wooden doors for shelves that have glass, but I intend to fit them with locks myself, and do the final fitting to the shelves. I could have ask the window manufacturer, but I want to spread the orders out a bit. He has succeeded with most of what was ordered, and above expectations, which honestly was quite low, and the sex toys are also good. The lab glass will be useful although I have to test how they withstand fire. I'm used lab glass being Pyrex heat-resistant glass, but Pyrex is a brand name, and the name doesn't say what kind of glass it really is. Boro-something? And how do I even identify it? I'll have to try tempering some of the glass.

I ask him to make three hour glasses and we go over my sketches of how they should look, size and how small the hole between them should be. I ask if he can arrange wooden frames for them himself or I will do it, with leather discs at the ends against the glass, but he is willing to arrange it. I give him clear instructions for them as well, such that they must be able to be taken apart and how, although I don't say it is to get sand in, or more likely really finely powdered eggshell. Getting fine sand is tricky. Finely crushed eggshells isn't. I have no idea how long these hour glasses will time. I tried pouring fine sand through a hole and calculated the volume, but I can calibrate with the volume. I hope that 15, 20 or 30 minutes will be possible. And then I will know how big to make future hour glasses.