Quite an event in any household, and I was of course really excited as the truck deposited its precious load.

And then it had to be opened. Your thoughtfully enclosed tool worked for most of the screws. But there was a bit of a struggle with two of them.....

Meanwhile, as predicted, Liam was taking over the crate and wanted to know if it would float in the pool...

But I managed to persuade him that what was in the crate really was more interesting than the crate itself (despite the work of art status you attributed to it!)

Never having done this before I was of course scared that the first thing I would do would be twang a string!

So I got out my Korg OM 12 and those TWO tuning wrenches. Goodness am I glad you said I needed two! I think I would have gone round in ever-decreasing circles if it hadn't been for that!

I was a bit perplexed by the bit of felt and the thing that looks like a blackboard rubber. But I decided these must be tuning aids and that the blackboard rubber was to dampen the string not being tuned (???) Anyway, much to my surprise I was able to do it! I did a string and then did the other one to obtain a unison - which the meter measured. And after an hour, a couple of coffees and a bit of nervous tension, there we were at 440 in the Valotti temperament (which I have come to prefer with Werckmeister III a close second).

My music teacher came today and was enthralled to see the clav finally here! It looks better in reality than in the photos (I was afraid it would be a much darker brown). Claude, my wife (that's short for Claudine by the way) hasn't seen it yet, she had to go to Paris on business and won't be coming back until tomorrow - but she was afriad it really would be too dark....

I must admit I was surprised to hear how quiet it is. I understand now everything about clavichords being the ideal domestic instruments. You won't get the neighbours banging on the door to complain if you're playing music and midnight! It's kind of the Baroque equivalent of listening to music on headphones I guess! But there is a charm about it that is quite captivating. Rose-Marie (my music teacher) who normally only teaches using pianos was really intrigued - and said, by the way that the tuning was spot on!

It certainly teaches you to use a delicate touch (or else you go into Bebung and that can of course sound off key).

There is one note (the Gsharp above middle C) which sticks. That is to say if you play it, the key won't fall back, so if you have to play it again you get a muted ping and you have to lift the key with finger and thumb to get it back down. Bit difficult if you want to trill. Will this right itself do you think or is minor surgery required?

Also, there is a little crack in the soundboard about two inches long just to the left of the bridge. I don't know if that was there before, do you remember it? Or could that have happened in the belly of the plane? I wouldn't have thought it was serious at these volume levels, but anyway better tell you in case there are any precautions to take. By the way, Nimes gets very dry indeed in summer. Should I worry about humidity?

Do let me know about the sticky key, the blackboard rubber, and the little crack. Oh yes and the humidity issue.