I had not cross stitched in 20+ years. I was apprehensive, but the pattern was easy to follow. I worked from the middle left to right and then bottom left to right. I did make some changes. I omitted the date/signature blocks at the top right of the design. As I worked toward the bottom of the design, I also added a single silver thread to the blue stream of water. It added some sparkle. I also used a DMC 94 green variegated strand on the tree valley. I also backstitched some of the cream colored designs to allow them to stand out from the Aida fabric I used. I made some mistakes, but the overall effect was lovely.