I love that house with the big porch in your last pic, Patches
How long did it take to gather the materials and build all of those homes? They look great!
I am into minecraft as well -- I recently started playing multiplayer, and I've been playing on a private survival server with a friend of mine. (Not sure if any other friends will end up joining or not ... with all I hear about griefing I think I'll choose carefully. haha) So far we have a main huge compound complete with a garden, library, main tower, and wrap-around lookout walkway. I recently built an island that serves as a tree farm, and as of yesterday we've been spreading out across the land setting up outposts. We're trying to find a desert biome at the moment because my friend wants some cactus.
During tunnel digging yesterday, I encountered 2 creepers and a skeleton, and yet the only time I died was when I had the misfortune of having gravel bury me. That kinda sucked...I was being so careful, and yet still, wham, buried. Gotta make a compass and a clock all over again, because by the time I got back to where I died my stuff had vanished.
I'll have to take some screen shots some time!