Trimming tree branches on tree in yard

The tree by the well for the house, the one that was damaged in June of 2020 (Life among the Tall Pines: Tree damage (tallpinesranch.blogspot.com)), had a few dead branches that needed trimming.

The tree is taller than it looks.  It's hard to see the dead branches in the photo taken back the beginning of August...

but since then, trimming those branches was on my to-do list.  Today I finally got around to the trimming.  I got the ladder out and climbed to the top of the tree.  I found more than the couple of dead branches.  I found other branches that were somehow still alive.  In the previous photo a dead branch is the curving branch at the top and going towards the left.  One "still alive" branch can be seen at the very top where the end of the branch is splitting away from the tree trunk.

The view at the top of the tree...  the part of the trunk splitting to the left is the same one seen in the previous photo.  

This is another "still alive" tree branch.  I have another photo of this branch once I got it down to the ground.

Yet another "still alive" tree branch after I cut it off the tree trunk.  So many branches, and the cut branches have side branches, so the cut branch can be difficult to get down off the tree.  It was chore to do so as I had to be careful not to fall while doing so.

Here are the 'down on the ground' photos.  The end view and the side view showing how long the branch was.  It is amazing the branch was so big and so alive as so little was attached to the tree trunk.

The tree after I removed the trimmed branches.  Still taller than it looks.

I ended up with three dead branches and four "still alive" branches.  Here are the branches after I trimmed the needles and side branches from them.  Later I will cut them up and use them for firewood in my wood stove.

Before working on the tree I had given the cattle a couple of pails of apples.  They wanted more and would moo at me on occasion when I was in the tree or later cutting the branches on the ground.  Speckles watching me and often she would moo.

Tomorrow I will load up the trimmings and haul them out to the pasture for them to decay in an out of the way low area.