With all this rain the olive oil harvest should be good

Managed to have a good walk with the boyz this morning before the rain started. It has now set in for the day. I'll look for a silver lining in this miserable weather and forecast that the oil harvest this year should be a good one - the trees are certainly getting a good dousing and if this extended cold wet spell is followed by anything like a good summer then the yields and quality should be stellar.

Here the big news is that the Italian Prime Minister has invited the Libyan leader Colonel Qadaffi to the G8 summit to be held in Sardinia this summer. The Libyans have emerged as something of a saviour to the economy here, using their oil wealth to buy into the leading banks and manufacturing companies. In so doing their influence , both political and economic , has risen.