Syrup for Almond Sherbet

I got hooked on this milky refreshing drink at quite an early age when I used to accompany my mother on her monthly visits to a pleasant, well-to-do distant relative, to pay the house rent, and to have a chat with her. I always looked forward to these visits, for the house she lived in was huge and traditionally built, with an open yard in the middle, at the center of which there was a small garden and a basin with a fountain. One of her daughters was my age and there in the orchard we used