Cast your mind back to that strange time in all our lives… March 2020.

The world had seldom looked a bleaker place, the news like a scene from some second-rate disaster movie.

But as most of us were retreating into our isolation cocoons, sheltering from the panic and pandemonium of the pandemic, Sian Fox was devising a plan to weather the storm.

There has been a lot of talk of politicians having "good pandemics", but few could claim to have displayed such adaptability and ingenuity as the owner and manager of Foxy's Deli and Cafe in Penarth.

"We've never been busier," Sian tells Nub News. "During proper lockdown we actually made more turnover than we did last year and that increased even more last month with Dine Out To Help Out."

No staff have been furloughed. New relationships have been made. Novel business ideas have been explored and conquered.

And to what can we attribute this truly extraordinary success? The cheeky optimism, determination and energy that resonates from Sian as we talk.

"Have you seen our tuk-tuk outside?"

"No," I admit.

"Well you need better observation skills than that if you want to be a reporter!"

The tuk-tuk was acquired at the beginning of lockdown as Sian and the team began delivering to needy (often shielding) customers.

"I drive it myself for deliveries. Obviously at the start Tesco's and other supermarkets had fully booked delivery slots. So we thought we might as well do it. We even teamed up with Windsor Fruit Stores and started delivering their produce alongside the milk, bread, eggs, and deli items we do. We have never been busier."

That's not all. Foxy's has also spent the pandemic selling the baskets, greeting cards and knitwear of various local stores that were forced to close during lockdown, taking a 10% cut.

"Obviously it's been really tough for other people and shops, but I just thought: what am I supposed to do? Sit and home and mope?

"We're lucky enough to run a business that could cope with COVID, and the council putting those parking bollards outside definitely helped us to run the outside bit last month. It has obviously been a lot harder for other businesses."

Foxy's has always been a real bastion community-cohesion in Penarth. Way before lockdown, they had been holding weekly meetups for Welsh language groups, bereaved spouses and weight watchers. (Sian laughs when she tells me how this last group swapped their single slices of toast for full englishes when during Dine Out to Help Out. "It's just as cheap now!" they said.)

But, driven by Sian's creativity, the company's role in social cohesion peaked during lockdown.

"People would message me from their homes as they shielded during lockdown. It started as them placing orders but now I've become a sort of agony aunt. I love getting these little emails from people who are alone at the moment. The whole thing has been so crazy and fun."

There aren't only two types of people in this world. But if there were, they could probably be separated between those who buckle under pressure and those who confront problems head-on, even emerging improved on the other side.

Come to Foxy's for a coffee and cake and you will be in no doubt as to which camp Sian and her staff can be placed in.

The walls are adorned with photos of the "DIOLCH NHS" rainbows Penarthians displayed in their windows. Social distancing measures are sensible but unobtrusive. There's even a life-sized cut-out of Boris Johnson, to which customers are encouraged to pin humorous messages.

"Bojo has lost his mojo" one reads.

These additions are symbols of Foxy's ability to triumph in the face of adversity and have a laugh in the process.

Sian's only worry is that normal service will resume post-COVID, that old habits will return and prevail.

"We call them COVID-shoppers, the new customers. You know, like Christmas-shoppers. I'm just waiting for them all to leave when things go back to normal."

But, when I look around the cafe - at the faces of the customers in this perennially busy corner of Penarth - I somehow do not foresee any downturn in fortunes for Foxy's any time soon.