Pictures from the November Minecraft session:
First, the obligatory “wander around the world” pictures:
![A tower at sunset](http://scenes.malvasiabianca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/tower-at-sunset-435x244.png)
A tower at sunset
![This isn't a rendering glitch, there really was a strange square island in the middle of the sea](http://scenes.malvasiabianca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/square-island-435x245.png)
This isn’t a rendering glitch, there really was a strange square island in the middle of the sea
![A small cave entrance surrounded by animals](http://scenes.malvasiabianca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/cave-entrance-with-animals-435x244.png)
A small cave entrance surrounded by animals
![A mountain with lava at the corner](http://scenes.malvasiabianca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/mountain-with-lava-corner-435x243.png)
A mountain with lava at the corner
![Cliff caves on the water](http://scenes.malvasiabianca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/cliff-caves-on-water-435x244.png)
Cliff caves on the water
![Inside one of the caves](http://scenes.malvasiabianca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/inside-cave-1-435x243.png)
Inside one of the caves
![Inside another one; yay weird physics](http://scenes.malvasiabianca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/inside-cave-2-435x244.png)
Inside another one; yay weird physics
![A village at night](http://scenes.malvasiabianca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/village-at-night-435x243.png)
A village at night
For most of this year, Dan’s just been building a straight path; so I went to visit him and then started walking back along the path. (And then stopped, because the path is way too long for me to go along the whole thing.)
![Dan's path continues](http://scenes.malvasiabianca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/dans-path-continues-435x244.png)
Dan’s path continues
![A floating mountain with lava off to the side](http://scenes.malvasiabianca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/floating-lava-mountain-435x245.png)
A floating mountain with lava off to the side
![Weird trees at the base of the mountain](http://scenes.malvasiabianca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/grey-twisted-trees-435x244.png)
Weird trees at the base of the mountain
![Going back over the desert](http://scenes.malvasiabianca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/over-the-desert-435x245.png)
Going back over the desert
![Going back over the water](http://scenes.malvasiabianca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/over-the-water-435x245.png)
Going back over the water
![Coming into land](http://scenes.malvasiabianca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/coming-into-land-435x243.png)
Coming into land
![Figuring out just how far away from home I am](http://scenes.malvasiabianca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/57801-blocks-from-home-435x242.png)
Figuring out just how far away from home I am
![A place where the path had to cut through a mountain](http://scenes.malvasiabianca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/path-through-mountain-435x241.png)
A place where the path had to cut through a mountain
![A thread of lava at night](http://scenes.malvasiabianca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/lava-at-night-435x244.png)
A thread of lava at night
Then I went to check on the hall that Miranda had started last time:
![Finishing off the ceiling and walls](http://scenes.malvasiabianca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/finishing-off-cave-ceiling-and-walls-435x243.png)
Finishing off the ceiling and walls
![Adding some trees and flowers](http://scenes.malvasiabianca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/trees-and-flowers-435x247.png)
Adding some trees and flowers
![Here's the top of the tree](http://scenes.malvasiabianca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/top-of-tree-435x241.png)
Here’s the top of the tree
![A chest](http://scenes.malvasiabianca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/chest-435x246.png)
A chest
![A secret water door](http://scenes.malvasiabianca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/secret-water-door-435x243.png)
A secret water door
![Adding paintings at the entrance](http://scenes.malvasiabianca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/paintings-at-the-entrance-435x244.png)
Adding paintings at the entrance
The explanation for the secret water door is this: last time, she’d dug into what turned out to be a pretty cool cave at the back of the hall. So she wanted to leave access to that while maintaining the hall as a hall. She ended up with a really neat solution: she added a pool of water in the hall, with the entrance to the cave at the bottom of the pool, done in such a way that Minecraft‘s water physics allows you to go into the cave from the water without the water flooding the cave. (And it really is secret, even though the pool isn’t too huge, it’s very hard to find the door if you don’t know where to go.)
We’ll be doing Minecraft a week early this month, December 18th instead of December 25th.