This time of the year , here in Cyprus, a lot of fruits are ready for picking. We have a good crop of apples, and the figs and prickly pears are also plentiful. The latter thrive without irrigation. Our almond tree produced 5 almonds . Early this morning I went to pick the almonds from the two established trees in my sister's garden and it appears that I won't have enough almonds to make an Almond torte. See photos of almonds collected this morning. Traditionally a large quantity of almonds is used in the production of sousouko the almonds are threaded onto approx . one metre long cotton thread and later dipped into the hot mixture of grape juice and flour.. The process is repeated twice and then left to dry. The resulting very tasty sousouko is sold at village fares and delicatesens. I wonder if this lack of almonds is due to the shortage of rain and will our sousouko be more expensive this year? By the way we Cypriots being inventive we have started producing this very old delicacy by using almonds dipped in carob juice and flour. Very different flavour to the grape juice but also tasty.