Actually, I just looked up our library and the rules for Aging & Longevity Potions. It doesn't seem like as big a risk as I thought, and in 8 seasons he can read through the Creo and Corpus books, bringing his Longevity lab total up to 44, which seems like a pretty respectable first LP, and only after one or two aging rolls.
So, revised plans:
1226
Spring: Adventure ?+3 XP. If any of the other magi are interested in a joint project, he'd like to continue draining the caves, hoping to find that rumored Stone Cutting Knife. Elsewise, he'll go hunting/scouting the area for magic beasties and vis sources. Local Area Lore, with 3 Independent Study XP going to Magic Lore. Corresponds with Quaesitor Certioari*, Sophos/new Cult Contacts. These correspondences are ostensibly about looking for magi who might trade Longevity Potions for hunting trophies, but the details about the possible trophies yield 1 Correspondence XP to Magic Lore.
Patrick will also get some livestock for the covenant from our village friends (probably have Leon do it), specifically poultry and some milking creatures (goats?). From my modern perspective, the poultry is most likely chickens. He'll get twice the number of chickens we need, and feed half of them with his Trough of Alterations to see what sort of mutants he can create -- while the possible source of vis is valuable, he's really looking for any interesting mutations which will breed true.
This means we'll need someone in the covenant to look after the animals. One of the unclaimed servants, perhaps? Or should we draft a local?
Summer and Autumn: Reads Principia Fabricata by Portia Verditii. Creo summa, level 9 quality 15, which will max out the book. Downtime spent continuing to hunt/explore, focusing on the Delta region (which hopefully fulfills his Servant of the Delta duties). While he corresponds, it is mostly a matter of seeking buyers and whatnot. Possibly, he gets 2xp of Correspondence (pun!) in either Latin or Prof(Scribe) -- given the quality of the book, the handwriting must be very impressive.
Winter: If there's no one else to do the casting, he'll read the Aegis Mastery tractus (or memorize a higher Aegis, if available -- his is 20) and cast the Aegis. If that's taken care of, he'll start on Blood and Tears, by Lacrimadia Bonisagi. Corpus summa, level 14 quality 14. Aegis/Corpus Correspondence with his new local Euclidean Cult contact, maybe? Distracted by Delta Duties, but not so bad as to affect his study totals. 12xp to Aegis Mastery OR 15xp total to Corpus.
1227: He spends all year reading Blood and Tears, and corresponding with his new Corpus buddy for 60xp. Distracted (no penalty to study) by Delta Duties. When the goats have their kids, Patrick will add the oldest males to his Trough experiments. (Originally, I said the youngest, but after doing some research, it seems like very few people like to eat old goat meat -- possibly, it might be easy for Patrick to acquire old, surly goats to experiment upon, on the cheap around here).
Looking into 1228: 1-2 seasons left on Blood and Tears. 1 Season, The Creation of Unnatural Objects in the Absence of an Ideal Form, by Plinius Bonisagi, Creo Tractatus, Quality 10. 1 Season, casting his own longevity ritual, when he'll need at least 8 vis.
Tangent: Did we ever turn on that Hypocaust? I'm pretty sure it's one of our Healthy Features.
Edit: calculated XP math