On the rack

This is my dish draining rack:

With every drainer I've had in my adult life, I've been looking for one like the one I grew up with - the same ratio of plate and dish to cup space, the robust plastic coating, the cheery sixties colour. Nothing I bought over the past forty years ever quite lived up to that memory.

And now I have one that is perfect. Because this *is* the one I grew up with. This draining rack is at least 48 years old, because I remember it being in our house in Thornton Heath, which we left in 1971. My mother kept it - and used it - every day since then (never a dishwasher for her) and I have now reclaimed it as my inheritance.

There is not a crack in the plastic; not a hint of rust. It cheers up my kitchen and makes me just that little bit happier when I use it every day.