Two particular moments have given me that "ah ha" feeling - the first being the delivery of our first grandchild into my arms after 9 months of hidden worry and 8 hours of feeling every contraction. And suddenly, there he was - and just as suddenly, my daughter became someone else's mother - just like that!

And then there was the moment when I looked at my son and thought, "yes! He is going to make adulthood intact and showing the rest of the world what I knew he had there - intelligence, competence, intuition, and a big heart.

Christmas Day 2009 dawned bright and warm, as the days of the 2009-10 summer have been.

The house was crammed to capacity for Christmas - every room full! It crossed my mind more than once that it may have been a mistake to upsize when all our friends were downsizing into small townhouses! But I wouldn't swap the busy noisiness of a full house for anything - well, not at the time! I had a severe dose of influenza - the real bone-aching, miserable version where I would rather have just pulled the blankets up and pretended that I was still asleep.

But it was Christmas morning and there were 10 people who were expecting the usual Holsted Christmas brunch in a few hours. So I threw back the pain killers, slipped on the clothes and sallied forth to meet the day's challenges.

As we all gathered around the Christmas tree, the great pile of presents seemed to be all for Max, our grandson who was with us for the very first time. Such a special time! We gradually waded through the brightly wrapped parcels and the discarded paper pile grew steadily. When we came to the end, I felt very "let down" - nothing from Sam. Not even a skull knob this year…….. I tried to hide my disappointment, as a mother does, but whispered to Les "did you get anything from Sam?" "Yes of course" he said and handed me a card. "Wow, hope he didn't put too much energy into that gift" I said snakily. "Read it properly" commented Les and pointed to the bottom line A fountain is on its way it read. I looked questionally at Les and he smiled. "Yeah right" I said, and turned to the kitchen.

But straight after brunch, Sam started. He hammered, cut, welded, braised and issued instructions to his "gofer" Les.

By the end of the afternoon, a fantastic water feature was taking shaped in our front garden. I watched amazed, and a tad embarrassed that I had doubted him! With a huge amount of confidence and very evident skill, large bronze leaves appeared and were cleverly linked together by fine copper piping.

He worked through the normal beer break while the rest of the family stood in sheer wonder, watching the artist at work. I sat on the grass, with tears in my eyes. Was this the same lad who had challenged me at many a turn, who had attended school to eat his lunch & play rugby, who fitted his role as a plumber perfectly? I watched closely as the artist in him, which I had always known was there, took flight in a haze of smolder and welding.

Eventually, at around dinner time, he called for the water. The garden hose was linked up to the nozzle he had welded in place at the top of the structure, and the water was turned on. And the water feature worked exactly as it was supposed to - tinkling water bubbling down over the leaves to splash into the large trough below. The quiet tinkling of the water was drowned out by the cheer that went up from the assembled family.

Tara Lodge has a truly stunning water feature in its front garden - but more to the point, I have a truly stunning son who has shown us that he has many hidden abilities but has a very evident love of his family.

What more could a mother want!