After a long, rough day, I like to relax with a nice martini. Garnished
with a couple of olives.

I don't have martinis all that often, though. And I rarely eat olives
unless they are first soaked in a glass of cold gin and vermouth. So all
too frequently the olives get moldy and have to be discarded. (Well, at
least I assume that the white sludge in the bottom of the jar is mold.)

What can I do to give olives a longer shelf life once they've been opened?
I put some vinegar in one jar lately, but I'm not sure if that helped -- the
jar was small, and I've enjoyed more martinis lately, so maybe the jar never
got old enough to develop mold.

I had read somewhere that you can replace the brine with olive oil for
longer sotrage, but that doesn't sound too appetizing for olives going into
drinks.

I'm thinking about citrus. If I put some lemon wedges and fresh lemon juice
(or ditto with limes) in the brine will that give the olives a longer life,
or will I end up with moldy citrus and olives in the same amount of time?
I'm thinking the hint of lemon or lime juice might add a nice flavor note to
the martini.

Anny