Well I tried an amended commit to the local branch and them tried to push it up - git didn't like it - wants me to do a git pull again from the remote branch.  Can it be done that way?

hint: Updates were rejected because the tip of your current branch is behind
hint: its remote counterpart. Merge the remote changes (e.g. 'git pull')
hint: before pushing again.
hint: See the 'Note about fast-forwards' in 'git push --help' for details.