Thanks...the whole stub thing...the limbs were really long and are heavy and incredibly brittle. They snap at almost the first brush of the saw, there is no fibre hold at all!
When I cut them the first time, I cut them out a ways from the trunk, first so they wouldn't fall on me and second so any potential follow through with the saw was well away from my legs. (even though I had on chainsaw trousers!)
I just didn't go back to cut the stubs off, kept moving around and up...
Next time fellas....!