Good one Meep.  That does give me an idea of how much salt is needed too.

I am worried about how mushy they are on the inside.  they are firm on the outside when you squeeze them.

hmmm...I'm not really sure Joono.  I thought they're supposed to be hard.  Martini would probably know best.

this is another good website 

http://www.oliveaustralia.com.au/Pickling_your_Olives/pickling_your_olives.html

btw, I like your pic 🙂

Found the following clip on youtube.  Shows how to get the right amount of salt by using an egg.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1O20Jpf8Kk&feature=player_detailpage

Great video Tulip!

I'm even more worried about my mushy olives now though.  Maybe it is because the are Kalamata or maybe they are over ripe.  

j*oono,  the olives I got from the shop were quite hard not sure of the variety but they were a nice green colour and quite large.  I followed the directions in the clip from milkwood and didn't sqash them.  We'll have to do a taste test in a couple of months.   I

the olives I got from the shop were quite hard not sure of the variety

All green olives are hard because they are the unripe fruit of every variety of olive.

Ok, back to work again for me now 😞

Still haven't managed to catch my mum.

But when she does the olives they are generally as hard as a rock.And they stay hard for weeks. So perhaps your are too ripe...

But on saying that she collects them all - even the ones ripe enough to fall to the ground - so perhaps they simply need pickling for different lengths of time. Interestingly, that dark colouring of the water is exactly what my mums look like after a few weeks in the jar.

Anyway, you'll know once you open the jar and taste them whether it has worked or not.

Thanks Martini.  I checked some still on the tree this morning that are less than ripe.  Still plenty of green on them.  When I slice some off with a sharp knife they look ok but if I squash them with my thumb they just go to complete mush too so I don't know what is wrong.

I will check them in a couple of weeks and find out whether they are at all edible :^O