Fort Pumpkin

 I think I've found a suitable large-scale project to ensure the cycle of tedious accumulating resources isn't repeated: an island fortress.

By taking any medium-sized island, I could convert it into a walled-in fortress, I could have courtyards for trees, gardens for crops, regular pens for animals, and the occasional empty space or quarry for blocks. And of course, it being a fortress, a hill should serve as a base of operations, and have underground areas to retreat to in the event of an attack. In other words, if I decide ever to let any friends in, I'll have a safe space to stay while they inevitably raze the aboveground sections. 

After twelve or so worlds, I finally created one that spawned me on an island that wasn't too small or too close to mainland. I started off slow, because the large majority of the island is a prairie area, full of animals but not much wood and exposed minerals. Of course, it being an island, all the mobs decided to manifest aboveground, leading to several deaths and last stands in the water.

It's a good thing that endermen are hurt by water.

But this did have an upside, and as pictured above, I was able to get a hefty amount of carrots, potatoes, and bones for bonemeal to start off a rudimentary farm for food. I didn't want to slaughter what precious animal herds I have on the island, so using crops seemed like a good idea. The temporary farms are just behind the hill in the picture.

I set up shop in the aforementioned hill, and carved out a section to begin the bunker. 

Unpleasant proportions.

I think that the plan would be to have an underground section of storage, backup farms, and tunnels, a small inner courtyard for any pets I may acquire. The island did come with a herd of horses, after all. Alongside this, I'd wall in a good section of the island -- if not all of it, and make the island a home.

I've decided to christen the entire base Fort Pumpkin, as my spawn point was on a pumpkin patch. Speaking of it, pumpkins really are nice as a building block and a fun thing to use for pumpkin pies. I'll cap off this post with a screenshot of an enderman infiltrating the storage area -- sans storage.

Needless to say, he overstayed his welcome.

We'll see how far this world goes.