Today I was Dutch.  I went to the Delft and Wooden Shoe factory.  The factory does all the processes by hand just as they are done in the Netherlands.  They get their paints from there as well.  They have one older woman who does all the painting.  She has very steady hands.  It is water based paints so that it is absorbed into the clay.  Delft started in the 1600's by copying Chinese designs, over time the designs changed to more Dutch themes.  It used to be only blue and white now they have expanded to other colors.  I must say I prefer the blue and white.

The wooden shoe part was really interesting.  They use a very green poplar wood because it has less of a tendency to crack as it dries and is lighter.  They explained that the Dutch turned to wood because leather was hard to get and very expensive.  Also leather tended to rot because of the dampness.  There was a machine that bored out the inside of the shoes but needed the hands on direction of a person.  The machine work, polishing and finishing are fast, the longest process is letting the shoes dry naturally.

Next door is a garden center where they, of course, specialize in tulips.  I missed the Tulip Festival so there was nothing blooming in the garden.  I did run into a couple from North Carolina and we discussed what grew and what didn't do well in our gardens.  Very chummy.  I again bought nothing.  I am getting really good at this.

I then went to find the Dutch Village with canals and everything.  Well when I found it it was tiny and cost $10 to get in.  I figured since I had been to the Netherlands I could save my money and skip this particular treat.  I took a few pictures from across the river and left.

My next stop was to the Motown Museum which was the original studio.  Once again I misread the book and read July for June and then discovered that the museum was closed on Monday when I showed up.  But this time I'm stubborn and I'm going back tomorrow morning.  It shouldn't take much time.  The place is tiny.  It's hard to believe that so much talent produced so many hits from there.  But more about that tomorrow.