Source merits are a constant flow, and not a monthly update. They are replaced 30 days after being awarded. If they aren't awarded instantly, they aren't lost, it just means a slight delay in their replacement.

Just to clarify the reason for creating Snow Eagle. It has let me play with a new template that I quite liked, and I can use the knowledge gained in building it to create landing pages for domains that I want to sell. It has a positive benefit for me in the forum as well.