Pooves? "Most people call gay men 'gay men', but my rude uncle calls them 'pooves'."
Noun proof-prooves, as in, "On the math test, he came up with the right answers but his prooves were crap."
"I can play that tune, but I make a lot of gooves."

It's 'ROOFS'. I can link to several on-line dictionaries. Please link to one that indicates 'rooves' is a real word. Even a British one.

I think the sock-on-a-string works great. You can heave them from the ground (if you can find it) or from an open window.